Saluda Train Tales: Remembering E.M. Patterson

Press release from Saluda Historic Depot: 

SALUDA, NC–The old steam engine helper is gone from Saluda Mountain. Mr. E. M. Patterson, who pushed the trains from Melrose to Saluda, a distance of three miles, for 47 years, retired at the age of 70 years. He only lived two years after he retired. Mr. Patterson went to work for the railroad when he was almost 14 years old as a water boy. He pulled a passenger train from Asheville to Salisbury and from Asheville to Spartanburg before coming on the helper at Saluda.

Mr. Patterson is best known for being the grandfather of actor Pat Hingle whose acting career began at Saluda School with a part in a school play. He went on to appear on Broadway in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, on TV in Gunsmoke, The Andy Griffith Show, The Fugitive, The Twilight Zone and countless others, and in over 100 movies, including Splendor in the Grass, Norma Rae, Hang ‘Em High, and all four of the 1990s-era Batman films.

“I remember Mrs. Patterson having some of his friends to come over to their house one night. She said Mr. Patterson had been working for the railroad 50 years that day and she invited us over. When we got there Mr. Patterson said, “I am glad you all came over. I have been working on the railroad 50 years today. I’m so glad you all came today.”

“Mr. Patterson was a great lover of music. He would go to a lot of our singing conventions, and would often pay the expenses of a good quartet to get them to come to our singings. He loved to hear the Carolina Ladies Quartet of Greenville, SC sing. He did not sing but it put life into a singing just to see him there; he enjoyed it so much,” quoted from “50 Years Ago in Saluda,” by Herbert E Pace.
Join us on Friday, November 17, 2017 and hear the stories by Christina Thompson Boies and Katherine Rohling Harrell. granddaughters of Mr. Patterson about their grandfather, E. M. Patterson, and his career as the engineer of the Helper Train on the Saluda Grade. Christina and Katherine are from Columbia, SC

Saluda Train Tales is a free monthly event to educate the community in the importance of Saluda’s railroad history and the Saluda Grade. These events are at the Saluda Historic Depot, 32 W Main Street, Saluda, NC 28773. Doors open at 6:30. Presentation is 7:00pm to 8:00pm. The events are free and voluntary donations are appreciated.  Memberships and Donations to the Saluda Historic Depot in 2017 will enable us to receive matching grant funds from the Polk County Community Foundation.

For more information, please contact Judy Ward at 828-674-5958 or judyward@charter.net or Cathy Jackson at 828-817-2876 or cathy@saludalifestyles.com for schedule updates.