~ from Gray family files ~

~ Brig Gen Gray in Italy, (655. Photograph. “MM-5-44-7068”; “Signal Corps photo). Italy.

Brig. General Carl R. Gray Jr., director general of Allied military railway service, and Italian Major General [Giovanni] Di Raimondo, of the Italian state railways, stand on front of decorated coal train; the first to make the Naples-Rome trip since the Allied occupation of the Italian capitol. Photo by Bell.” Rome, Italy. 4 July 1944 ~

~ private citizem Gray ~

~ holding first born Gladys to show his paternal grandfather John Andrew Flora ~
~ photo from 1st born granddaughter, Sandra Stuart Gray ~

~ the three Carl Raymond Grays, around 1917 Baltimore, Maryland with son, Carl, III being held by father and grandfather ~
~ photo from 1st born granddaughter, Sandra Stuart Gray, daughter of C R G, III ~

~ a cool swim in "The Georges" with family in Maine ~
~ picture from 1st granddaughter, Sandra Stuart Gray ~

~ With parents on their fiftieth wedding anniversary, being his twenty-fifth, and his two brothers in Omaha ~

~ Family portrait on parents fiftieth and his twenty-fifth wedding anniversaries in Omaha ~
~ picture from his 2nd granddaughter, Barbara Monford Gray Vest ~

~ enjoying his mother's Cross of Honor award from U S Flag Association July 1937 in Omaha ~
~ picture from Dr Robert C Knutson, husband of Eleanor H Gray ~

~ The three Carl Raymond Grays having lunch around 1937 ~

~ he & wife and his parents on an evening out around 1937 ~
~ picture from Harriette Flora Hopkins Anglea ~

~ Gen Gray with seven of his key men ~

~ from Volume 3, 1951-1960, Who's Who in America ~

~ third from left at dedication in Kansas City, Missouri ~

~ Carl, - 2nd from far right, next to his widowed mother, at a railroad banquet held in Saint Paul, Ramsey county, Minnesota with Gray family members. From left, "Wint" & "Howdie", then Carl R,III, his mother and father, Gladys & Carl R jr , the vice president of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway (1946-48) prior to being appointed by president Truman as the Administrator of Veterans Administration filling the shoes of Gen Omar Bradley as its 3rd leader (serving the second longest time), then their widowed mother Harriette, (see next photo for a close- up). Son "Russ" is not in picture.

The model trains are of the famous bright yellow, Chicago & Northwestern Railway's, "Twin Cities 400". Known as “Route of the 400s”, it didn't get that name for nothing! This famous slogan by the railroad described its fleet-footed regional passenger trains that were said to be able to reach their destinations in 400 minutes or less, thus the name 400 was born. The first train of the railroad’s famous passenger fleet was simply known as 400 but later changed to "Twin Cities 400", a train that connected Chicago with Minneapolis. "The Chicago & North Western Railroad" was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States that operated more than 5,000 miles of track as of the turn of the 20th century and over 12,000 miles of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970's. "The Chicago & North Western Railroad" was chartered in 1848, purchased the assets of the bankrupt Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac RailRoad, incorporated in 1859 in Illinois, the year the first superintendent of Hennepin county, Minnesota schools was Oliver Crosby Gray, grandfather of Carl, jr, "Russ" & "Howdie", left Minneapolis to teach in affluent Mississippi with his wife of a year, "Jennie" and first son, Clyde Leslie, because of the depressed conditions that then existed in Minnesota. - - - Side Note from "Sandy", to wit: - "It was the custom, when the family gathered at Hudson (Wisconsin, C R Gray,jr's home), for all of us to watch the 400 across the river ply it's way to or from Chicago. No matter what we were doing we were all called "to this duty!" Oh, and we counted the cars which varied, I'm sure, with the number of passengers. It was a morning run "to Chicago" and an evening return around 4:00." photo from 3rd granddaughter's book, "A Very Special Man", her 2013 tribute to father "Howdie" - - with additional information from 1st granddaughter "Sandy" Gray of C R G,jr, daughter of C R G, III.

~ with widowed mother spinning a yarn with her, view prior picture from "Wint" Gray Bones ~
~ picture from Harriette Flora Hopkins Anglea ~

~ with wife & 1st granddaughter in Great Northern Railway's Board room (later, Burlington Northern) with John Budd unveiling portrait of his father ~
~ picture from 1st granddaughter, Sandra Stuart Gray ~

I found this stuck away with my dad's letters home. I have to believe it's from a Minneapolis Paper of the time.