(The following story by Roy Hoffman appeared on the Press Register website on February 26. Brother J.R. Phillips was a member of BLET Division 140 in Mobile, Ala.)
MOBILE, Ala. — James Richard “J.R.” Phillips, a longtime steam engineer for L&N Railroad, died Sunday of complications from a stroke. The native Mississippian, who spent most of his life in Eight Mile, was 88.
Nicknamed “Monkey Wrench” for his early work as a train mechanic, Phillips was profiled in the Press-Register in June and shared memories of riding the rails. At his home he kept a collection of iron train whistles, including one he called “Mr. Jim,” and another, “Screaming Mimi.”
“All engineers can blow a whistle,” he told the Press-Register, “but very few can play one.”
Born May 16, 1919, Phillips learned railroading at his father’s knee, literally, from the age of 4, standing in the cab next to his father, who was operating the engine of a logging train. Phillips became his father’s fireman by the time he was 21.
In later years, he liked to tell stories of those early days of shoveling tons of coal a day into the boiler of the steam engine. “It was hot,” he recalled. “I’d get off, and the water would be sloshing in my shoes.”
He joined L&N Railroad — Old Reliable, it was called — as a fireman in 1946 and worked for other railroads over the next decade, as well, often in the capacity of engineer, including GM&O.
By 1958 he was a full-time engineer for L&N, operating both freight and passenger trains along the Gulf Coast.
He was in charge of the Pan American and Hummingbird passenger lines on the stretch from Mobile to New Orleans.
“He knew every inch of the track,” said Louis Zadnichek, a longtime friend and railroad enthusiast.
In 1985 Phillips retired from the Seaboard System, now CSX, the last steam-qualified engineer in the Mobile Division.
He became a consultant to railroad museums and the Alger-Sullivan Historical Society in Century, Fla., where he was active in the efforts to restore a historic steam engine to operation.
Survivors include his wife of 55 years, Helen Mae Phillips of Satsuma; three sons, Albon K. Phillips and Allen E. Phillips, both of Lucedale, Miss., and James “Ricky” Phillips Jr. of North Carolina; one daughter, Mary Nell Stewart of Semmes; two brothers, Junior Phillips and Walden Philips, both of North Carolina; five sisters, Violet Murphy, Ann Sullivan and Sarah Atwood, all of Laurel, and Joyce Cable and Willie Tarleton, both of North Carolina; nine grandchildren; and 20 great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Valhalla Memorial Funeral Home in Semmes, where the service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday. Burial will be in Valhalla Memorial Gardens.
Memorials may be made to the Alger-Sullivan Historical Society, P.O. Box 11002, Century, FL.