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Page last revised 9/9/2005

Photo album head
A railroad man and his friends.

Nookey Davis. Credit: Old Alabama Rails Collection

Nookey Davis.
Credit: Old Alabama Rails Collection

 This album contains photos taken by Thomas Henry Davis, a longtime employee of Western Railway of Alabama. Davis, a lifelong resident of Montgomery, was hired by WofA around 1940 and remained an employee at their Montgomery Shops for about thirty years. He originally worked in the yard.

In 1942 Davis, who was known to most people as "Nookey," lost a hand in a work-related accident. The union and the company agreed that he would receive either a lump-sum cash payment or the guarantee of a lifetime job.

In that post-depression era, he decided to accept the lifetime job. (Ironically, Davis’s father, Jonah, had lost a foot many years earlier in a railroad accident.) Because of Davis’s disability, he began to work in the yard office, where he stayed until he retired in 1969 for medical reasons unrelated to his job.

Photography was one of Davis’s hobbies and he took several photos of his coworkers. Ed Rowell, who appears in one of the photos, was perhaps Davis’s best friend at Western. Rowell still lives in Montgomery.

Davis died in 1997 and his wife, Mary, died in 1999. Their two sons, Tom and Jim, live in Montgomery.

Here are some of the photos he took and his notes on the back of each.

Click on any of the images below to view a larger image.
Images open in new window.

"L. & N. and W. of A. Shops, 1-8-1950." - Old Alabama Rails Collection "L. & N. and W. of A. Shops, 1-8-1950." - Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection
"N.J. "Jimmy" Wills, Night Round House Foreman. Photo taken in front of Planing Mill/Pattern Shop in August 1949." - Old Alabama Rails Collection "N.J. "Jimmy" Wills, Night Round House Foreman. Photo taken in front of Planing Mill/Pattern Shop in August 1949." - Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection
"J.H. "Jimmy" Zachry (left), Road Foreman of Engines and J.D. "Johny" [sic] Burns, Back Shop Foreman (right). Photo taken in front of Planing Mill/Pattern Shop, August 1949." - Old Alabama Rails Collection "J.H. "Jimmy" Zachry (left), Road Foreman of Engines and J.D. "Johnny" Burns, Back Shop Foreman (right). Photo taken in front of Planing Mill/Pattern Shop, August 1949." - Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection
"C.E. Rowell "Ed", Last Trick Call Boy, Gouge Man 9-1-1949. Photo taken at roundhouse, August 1949." - Old Alabama Rails Collection "C.E. Rowell "Ed", Last Trick Call Boy, Gouge Man 9-1-1949. Photo taken at roundhouse, August 1949." - Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection
[Ed Rowell died in October, 2002]
Nookey"O.J. Dover, Day Round House Foreman. Photo taken at roundhouse in August, 1949." - Old Alabama Rails Collection "O.J. Dover, Day Round House Foreman. Photo taken at roundhouse in August, 1949." - Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection
"M.W. "Wood" Cloud, First Trick Hostler (left) and F.M. Pitts, Crane Operator "Dinkie Skiner" [sic], Call Boy 9-1-1949. Photo taken behind roundhouse, August 1949." - Old Alabama Rails Collection "M.W. "Wood" Cloud, First Trick Hostler (left) and F.M. Pitts, Crane Operator "Dinkie Skinner", Call Boy 9-1-1949. Photo taken behind roundhouse, August 1949." - Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection
Aerial shots
Main View - Taken around 1961 from the south, this view of the WofA Montgomery Shops shows the new diesel shop on the lower right of the property. Note the steam engines still in the roundhouse, awaiting calls to service that will never come. Credits: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection Main View
Taken around 1961 from the south, this view of the WofA Montgomery Shops shows the new diesel shop on the lower right of the property. Note the steam engines still in the roundhouse, awaiting calls to service that will never come.
Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection
Chester Yards - Nookey Davis, though one-armed from a railroad accident, built and flew his own plane. These are the WofA’s Chester Yards (known as the "new" yards, though built in the 1920’s), located about a mile north of the Shops. Credits: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection Chester Yards
Nookey Davis, though one-armed from a railroad accident, built and flew his own plane. These are the WofA’s Chester Yards (known as the "new" yards, though built in the 1920’s), located about a mile north of the Shops.
Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection
Downtown Montgomery - In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, the area around Union Station still bustled with passenger and especially freight traffic. Today, Union Station, its shed and the WofA freight terminal are the only remaining railroad buildings in this area of Montgomery. The light colored building about two blocks up from the lower right hand corner of the photo is the Seaboard Air Line freight terminal making a rare photographic appearance. Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection Downtown Montgomery
In the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, the area around Union Station still bustled with passenger and especially freight traffic. Today, Union Station, its shed and the WofA freight terminal are the only remaining railroad buildings in this area of Montgomery. The light colored building about two blocks up from the lower right hand corner of the photo is the Seaboard Air Line freight terminal making a rare photographic appearance.
Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection

Around the Shops
Tin Shop - Johnny Burns stands knee deep in the flood waters that engulfed the Shops in early 1961. Behind him is the WofA Tin Shop, on the roof of which is the steam whistle that marked shift changes. One of his friends tells a story that Johnny never saw a puddle of water he didn’t want to step in. Once he was walking from the back shop to the roundhouse and he left the path to walk through every puddle. Watching him, a co-worker remarked, "You can tell when a boy becomes a man: He goes around the puddles." This boy must be in heaven here. Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection Tin Shop
Johnny Burns stands knee deep in the flood waters that engulfed the Shops in early 1961. Behind him is the
WofA Tin Shop, on the roof of which is the steam whistle that marked shift changes. One of his friends tells a story that Johnny never saw a puddle of water he didn't want to step in. Once he was walking from the back shop to the roundhouse and he left the path to walk through every puddle. Watching him, a co-worker remarked, "You can tell when a boy becomes a man: He goes around the puddles." This boy must be in heaven here.
Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection
Roundhouse - The Roundhouse office was located on the southern end of the building. Here, several of Nookey’s friends gather at the end of the day. In the background, one can see a little of the base of the 125-foot tall cylindrical water tower. Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection Roundhouse
The Roundhouse office was located on the southern end of the building. Here, several of Nookey’s friends gather at the end of the day. In the background, one can see a little of the base of the 125-foot tall cylindrical water tower.
Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection
The truck in this view of the Roundhouse office was the ‘go-fer’ truck on the property. It was normally driven by Andrew Webb, one of the Shops’ black employees and fondly remembered by many former employees. Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection The truck in this view of the Roundhouse office was the 'go-fer' truck on the property. It was normally driven by Andrew Webb, one of the Shops' black employees and fondly remembered by many former employees.
Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection
The WofA truck is on an errand as it enters the Shops southern gate in front of the Planing Mill, one of the buildings OAR hopes to restore. On the right is the Main Office, behind which is the Blacksmith Shop, both of which were demolished in the 1970’s. Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection The WofA truck is on an errand as it enters the Shops southern gate in front of the Planing Mill, one of the buildings OAR hopes to restore. On the right is the Main Office, behind which is the Blacksmith Shop, both of which were demolished in the 1970's.
Credit: Nookey Davis/Old Alabama Rails Collection



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