The night switch engine at Ravenna was assigned hours 1:00am-9:00. Can't
remember what we were doing for work...Some nights it was kind of light and we
got a little "spot"...
We would grab a waycar and pull it up in front of the depot and the foreman
would go inside to visit with the operator and the rest of us would "bed
down" in the WC until another train showed up for us to work....One night we
were comfortably ensconced in the WC when No. 43 pulled in...Somewhere around
3:00am or so. Shortly after they left town Court Firestine, who was the
foreman, that night came out to the WC and woke us up saying..."You guys
better
wake up Billy Loos (the trainmaster) is in he depot"...
We all arose, and trooped into the depot and sat around with Loos and the
operator for awhile until No. 42 showed up...No's 43 and 42 would meet, not far
west of Ravenna. In about an hour or so. We hung around the depot until 42
left with Billy safely aboard. As the train pulled out, we were standing on
the depot platform waiting for the rear end to go by so we could resume our
"spot"...As the rear car cleared the depot platform, the flagman, who was in
the rear vestibule with the dutch door open yelled out to us as he went
by..."ALL RIGHT....EVERYBODY BACK TO THE SACK'
The switcher was crewed by trainmen off the Lincoln Division.. Any
vacancies on the job were filled off the Aurora Extra Board. This board
normally had
no one on it, but when there was a vacancy on the switch engine, the callboy
(girl) would call the youngest man on the Lincoln Extra board with this
cheery message..."You're forced to the Aurora Board for the Ravenna Switch
engine. You could then Claim a deadhead from Aurora to Ravenna.
The crew arrangement for the Ravenna switcher was one of those odd ball
local deals....The job was a 6 day job, but the crew was assigned on a 5 day
basis...Rather than have to deadhead a relief crew to Ravenna every week, the
arrangement was that one crew member would take five days off one week, then
the
next guy would take 5 days off the next week, and the third week the third
crew member would take his 5 days off. Therefore an extra man would have to
stay on the job for 3 five day weeks, relieving each regular man 5 days at a
time.
It was, to say the least, an undesirable situation, consequently the
youngest guy on the board was forced to Ravenna on a low pay, night job for
three
weeks at a time.
The hotel accommodations at Ravenna were "less than plush"..Dale, I can't
remember the name of the old hotel...can you help me out???It was a "non AC"
and
consequently it was not a real desirable place to stay while working nights
and trying to sleep days in August and September....There was the usual
greasy spoon restaurant in the hotel, where I first saw someone eat a
"Graveyard"...For those of you less enlightened folks a Graveyard is a bowl of
softboiled
eggs, milk and crackers..Looks like something that somebody had already
eaten.
I mentioned that in 56 a steam engine was kept at Ravenna for
protection...Before I was forced to the swticher in late August I had been into
and out of
Ravenna several times on through freights and had seen the Ravenna switch
crew using the 5080 as their engine...Well, I thought when I got forced up
there, maybe I'll have my one, only and probably last chance to work on a
steam
engine....Well it never happened...the 5080 was there, in the roundhouse, kept
hot but we never got her during any of my time there. At that time there
were two locals which worked out of Ravenna. There was 47-48 Lincoln to
Ravenna, Monday, Wednesday and Friday and the Burwell Local in and out on the
other
nights, so you always had a Geep to use..The 5080 would only be pressed into
service in the event of a breakdown of one of the geeps.
In case you were wondering....A night's work for 8 hours..no OT in 1956 paid
$18.15.
Pete
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