Wilcox bungalow named after longtime train dispatcher, telegraph operator, agent-operator

Railroad crossing in Wilcox community.

I always enjoy hearing from readers of The Courant, and subscriber Curtis Walker of Pensacola recently contacted the office to fill me in on some matters of local history. Walker grew up in Evergreen and has many fond memories of his early years in Conecuh County. He eventually entered the military and enjoyed a long career in the railroad industry.

Some of you may remember that back in September I wrote about the old Wilcox community, an old community that’s located near Owassa. This community, which also went by the names of Gregville and Peachbloom, was centered around a railroad crossing. If you go there today, you’ll find an up-to-date railroad crossing complete with modern drop arms and flashing lights.

A couple of weeks ago, Walker called me to ask if I paid any attention to the silver bungalow near the crossing when I visited it back in September. I vaguely recalled seeing the small building, but I had to admit that I hadn’t taken a very close look. I grew up in the railroad town of Frisco City and from a young age was instilled with a healthy respect of train tracks, so I tend to avoid railroad property that could be potentially dangerous.

Walker said that if I’d looked at the bungalow closely, I would have seen “S.E. LACHAUSSEE” stenciled on one side of it. The “S.E.” stands for “South End,” and the “LACHAUSSEE” is the last name of J.G. Lachaussee. Walker noted that Lachaussee was a longtime train dispatcher, who worked for many years on the Louisville & Nashville-Family Lines-Seaboard System-CSXT railroad.

Lachaussee began his career as a telegraph operator, was eventually promoted to agent-operator and later became a train dispatcher in 1965. He served on the New Orleans & Mobile Sub-Division for many years and retired in 2002 from the CSX Centralized Dispatching Center in Jacksonville, Fla. Three months later, CSXT Mobile Division officials held at ribbon-cutting at the sound end of the then-new 11,000-foot rail siding at Wilcox, where you’ll find the “S.E. LACHAUSSEE” bungalow today.

On Monday of last week, I received a nice packet of additional information sent to me by Walker. This packet included a wide variety of historical information about railroads in our area, including documents prepared by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Historical Society. Not only did this information concern old railroads in Conecuh County, but also railroads in Monroe, Wilcox, Butler, Covington and Escambia counties.

During our talks on the phone, I told Walker that I remember railroad employees coming to our elementary school about once a year to talk with us about railroad safety. Walker said that he doesn’t think the railroads do this anymore, but that it would probably be a good idea. He said he was also pleased to hear that safety measures had been improved at King’s Crossing in Evergreen, which at one time was one of the deadliest crossings in America.

He noted that at most crossings now, you’ll find a small metal box that contains a telephone. If something goes wrong at one of these crossings – like a stalled vehicle or other emergency – all you have to do is pick up that phone and you’ll be directly connected with a dispatcher in Jacksonville. With a push of a few buttons, they can stop all trains headed towards that crossing.

In the end, I appreciate Mr. Walker taking the time to share this information with me and for going to the trouble of send me additional information by mail. He noted that he plans to donate some of his historical material to the library in Evergreen someday soon, and I look forward to meeting him in person. If anyone else in the reading audience has any additional information about railroads in Conecuh County they’d like to share, please let me know.