[2] At age 17, Thomson became an apprentice in the PRR machine shops in Altoona, and studied mechanical engineering there for four years.

Thomson gained experience with restoring shops, repair of rolling stock and machinery, the rebuilding of bridges and the construction of new roads and telegraph lines.

[3] He enlisted in the Union Army in 1861 during the American Civil War, and served as chief assistant to Colonel Thomas A. Scott, later the PRR's fourth president.

Thomson was relieved of military duty in June 1864, and appointed Superintendent of the Eastern Division of the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad.

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