Elmer Keeran worked all his life for the railroad and in 1946 he was 63 years old and working as the yard conductor for the Nickel Plate on the west side of Bloomington. Not only was railroad work dangerous and heavy work, but Elmer Keeran had a nemesis in the rail yard in the form of Roy Eells.
On October 16, 1946, Roy Eells was the engineer on a train that entered the yard where Elmer Keeran was in charge. The altercation, according to Keeran's testimony to the coroner, began when Eells was still inside his engine and Keeran was on the platform. Keeran claimed that Eells came out of the cab after him and Keeran begged Eells: "Roy don't hurt me." Eells first hit him two times on the side of the head. Witnesses said that they heard the two men screaming at the top of their lungs and disregarded the fight because the two fought so often. Another witness saw that Eells was trying to gouge out Keeran's eyes with his thumbs. (But did nothing whatever about it.)
Keeran testified that Eells was beating his head against a wall and that he was afraid that his back would be hurt. Apparently there was a meat hook at hand, and that is what Keeran ended up defending himself with. He struck Eells in the head with the meat hook, causing injuries that stopped the fight and put Eells in the hospital. Eells died days later and Keeran was brought before the coroner.
Keeran tearfully testified that he did not mean to kill Eells, he just wanted him to stop beating him. He claimed that Eells was always bullying him. Witnesses said that the men fought often and that Eells was usually the instigator. The coroner observed that Keeran was about 50 pounds lighter than Eells, at just 150 pounds.
The coroner's jury found that Keeran had killed Eells in self defense and Mr. Keeran was released. Mr. Keeran eventually moved to Florida after retirement and died there in 1956. His wife had died in 1943 and the couple had no children. Mrs. A R Eells (Elizabeth) also died in 1956, but in Covena, California, where she lived with her daughter, Mrs. Marguerite Woith.
This story certainly adds color to the stories of railroad men, although such behavior would make work an incredibly unpleasant place. One wonders at such meaningless workplace violence, and the acceptance of it by all the men who worked there.