Samuel Cochrane

Education

Born to Cooper Samuel Cochrane, Senior in Rochester, New York, he attended school until the age of 13 when he left to become a clerk in a local wholesale liquor warehouse.

Career

He continue work there throughout his teenage years until 1870 when he accepted a position as fireman on the Meadville-based Atlantic and Great Western Railroad line. After eight years of service, of which four years were spent on freight and another four on passenger, he passed the requirement to become an engineer receiving his official promotion in December 1878. Cochrane continued running freight trains for another seventeen years and, although later allowed to run passenger trains, he requested to be transferred to local freight trains after two years.

43, he held the distinction of having run the last broad-gauge engine out of Meadville before the main road was narrowed to standard gauge.

Cochran continued working up until the 1920s as an engineer with the Oil City branch passenger trains between Meadville and Oil City.

Achievements

• In January 1915, Cochrane was awarded the Order of the Red Spot, an award given to engine crews with minimal engine failures while in operation.

Membership

Throughout his career, Cochrane was praised for his clear record with no accidents and, a later member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Division Number.