Hold Rites for Former Cape Man Killed On Train

Ralph Bryan Brannock, son of Jason W. and Telano Brannock, born 6 Jan 1898, and died 18 Oct 1931.

I believe this to be a photo of him, although this has yet to be verified:

The Brannock family and trains do not mix well! Ralph's story ends in the same crushing manner as his father's.

An article dated, October 20, 1931, released by the Southeast Missourian details the accident:

"Mr. and Mrs. John A. Brannock, 1101 Jefferson Ave., went to Bloomfield where they attended funeral services for a cousin of Brannock, Ralph Brannock. Ralph Brannock who was killed Sunday morning at Jonesboro, Ark. when his head was crushed by a door of a box car in which he was riding. Services were held at the home of his grandmother, Mrs. J.D. Underhill, in Bloomfield, and burial was in the cemetery there. 

Brannock had opened the box car door and was peering out as the train stopped suddenly and Brannock's skull was crushed as the door slammed shut. He lived 10 hours following the accident, but never regained consciousness. Brannock formerly resided in Cape Girardeau, being employed in 1917 and 1918 in the Dalton Drug Store, Main Street and Broadway."

While sifting through documents pertaining to Ralph, I found his registration card for WWI dated 12 September, 1918.

**Did you know that every male, citizen and alien, born between 13 September 1873 and 12 September 1900 had to register for the war? 24 million males were born in this time frame!!!!**

His registration card states that he is employed as a timekeeper for the American Car and Foundry Company located at 2600 South Broadway in St. Louis, MO. 

Timekeeper - A person responsible for making sure things happened on time e.g. worker arriving or departing, trains, coaches, omnibuses, etc.

I was able to locate a floor plan of the building he worked in. 

This is an example of the type of railcar they were constructing at the time:

**courtesy of midcontinent.org**

During WWI, AC&F Co. also produced artillery gun mounts and ammunition, field kitchens, pack saddles, submarine chasers, cloth shrinking machines and rollers, and even wooden tent pegs, as well as railway cars, for the Allies.

Field Kitchen:

**courtesy G503.com**

Pack Saddle:

**courtesy of buckarooleather.blogspot.com**

Submarine Chaser:

This is a model set, but had a great explanation attached.

**courtesy of oldmodelkits.com**