As I have said many times "a railroader is a man (or woman) who never allowed the truth to stand in the way of a good story". That is as true of Gilbert Lathrop as it is of all who preceded or followed him. Sometimes the difference between a fairy tale and a railroad story is:
A fairy tale starts out "once upon a time".
A railroad story starts out "what I'm about to tell you ain't no s**t I knew the crew on that job".
That having been said it it also true that if it could happen somewhere, it did.
John Bush