Syracuse Journal, Feb. 29, 1904
The “Hojack”
How the R.W. and O. Division Came to Be Called by That Name.Considerable mystery has always surrounded the origin of the nickname “Hojack” applied to the R.W. and O. division. Railroad men when asked seem to have but a vague idea of the reason of the term.
A writer, who signs himself as an “Old Engineer,” writes: -
“I noticed recently in a paper that there was some doubt as to the origin of the work ‘Hojack’ as applied to the R.W. and O. division of the New York Central Railroad. There are few persons on the railroad who know how the name came to be applied, but I happen to know the exact circumstances. Along in the early 1870’s a man named Royal and one John Tobin were employed by the R.W. and O. railroad in running trains between Lewiston and Suspension Bridge.
Royal was a gruff, genial fellow and was well liked by the railroad men at the Bridge. It was his habit, when after having delivered his cars at the Bridge, he was ready to return, to stand at the office door and call out to his partner in stentorian tones, “Ho, Jack, time to be going back.” The man and the voice became inseparably connected with the railroad and when his train appeared the men would say, ‘Here comes the hojack’ The name sticks to the road and the R.W. and O. is now better known among railroad men as the ‘Hojack’ than it is by its corporate name.”