All:
27-Jan-67 I was the 2nd trick Operator at Aurora Tower.
Myth or Fact? Snow to Florida. Yes, that really did happen. Some
teenage girl used her local media to get the story out that she had
never seen snow. CB&Q PR saw it on a wire service and decided
to run with it. While I do not know the location they loaded a Mechanical
about half full and sent it to her. Lot's of PR points there with the photo-op
when she opens the door and the whole bit. CB&Q even said that this
was a useful trip because the car would be loaded with Citrus and work
it's way back North. I'm sure FGE had plenty of cars but the whole deal
looked good.
Snow loaded and shipped out? Very true. Not just '67 but '78-'79 for
sure. You can plow the tracks in yards and at stations but the stuff has
nowhere to go. All you end up with is high ridges between tracks that
are very difficult to walk on and impossible to tie hoses from. The
standard destination was Centralia and in '67 they were even using flat
cars. In '78-'79 Inland Steel filled up the gons that had been ordered
from various roads and then rejected them and ordered more.
My personal story:
Drove to work and parked way down at the West end by the entrance.
Thought that if I went right up to the tower I'd be likely to be plowed in.
Walking up to the tower it was snowing like crazy and the wind was
picking up. Took over and started copying train orders and the normal
routine. Please understand that this was 35 years ago and I probably
could not have reconstructed that shift the next day. The things that I
will describe really happened but they might not be in the right sequence
or correct in every detail.
An aside: At that time there were four sets that went down the hole at
West Eola. The rest terminated at Aurora. Most were stored on tracks
in the Hill Yard. The Evening Parade and the Morning Parade did not
run with fixed configurations. Cars were re-arranged at Aurora every
night. The power was cut off every train when it came to a stop in the
depot. The power went out West of Hurds Island and went to the House
one at a time. If there was a problem with that move you just put them
on the C&I siding until the Main #1 conflict was resolved. The Dinkies
were switched from both ends and at a certain point each evening the
Lyon Metal Job and The Armour Job came down and handled one
train a piece to the Hill Yard. The moves were all figured out in a fixed
sequence and no time was wasted. When the Aurora engine went in
a track they got their cars and moved right back out and the signal
better be clear. There was a Yardmaster somewhere in the Hill Yard
area but I do not know where his office was. If everything was following
the pattern you might not even have occasion to talk to him. (When
I'm taking about the Hill Yard I'm including the old shop trackage and
wherever else they put trains. I do not know all those track designations
and I was never down there late at night when it was filled up.)
Back to the snow. The Dinkies start coming, The Lyon Metal & Armour
jobs go West and go wherever they normally left their industry cars.
#1 goes West but those signals were lined directly from Mt Olympus and
no problem was even possible. The first Dinky comes in and I don't
think it was the right train. Depot engine takes it to the Hill Yard and then
I wait and wait and wait. It was obvious by then that this was one of
those storms where you spend 20" with 4 or 5 people cleaning a switch
and the next time you need to use it it's just like it was before. Looking
West from the tower the snow was in waves at the West end of the
platforms. The power switches in the plant itself needed constant attention
but most of the time I was able to make the move I needed to make.
The Depot fills up and I start getting a backup on the viaduct over
downtown. I'm sending units down the C&I siding because I don't want
to make it hard for the depot engine to come back but it isn't coming
back. All the trains are late and out of order. The two industry jobs
show up and manage to get a train a piece and take them down. The
problem there is that the depot engine is still trying to get rid of it's
first train so they don't really have any place to go. In addition the moves
that need to be made at the West end to Depot #3, #4, & #5 are not
getting done.
Somewhere along the line the tower phone starts ringing constantly.
The families of all these crews have the number and are starting to get
concerned. There is little I can tell them. Also somewhere along the
line an official shows up and asks if he can help. I have no idea who
he was and never saw him before or after. Could have been a Vice
President for all I know. I turn the bell phone over to him and tell him
that my train sheet is up to date on which trains are where but the
engines are not going back to the roundhouse. He was there about
four hours and really helped. Only asked questions and never tried
to make decisions.
At about this time I get a call on the radio from one of the trains waiting
to get in. It's the Division Superintendent and he wanted me to take the
train he had been riding in next. Said he had been out of touch too long
and had a lot of problems to try and solve or words to that effect.
I finally get an engine back and get Depot #1 cleared off. Took the
requested train in but he is too long and blocks the little crossing that
was at the East end. That will come to haunt me later. Around this
point I know I have to move the engines to the Roundhouse. These
guys are going to have to work the next morning. Call the train's
unit that I think is first out and tell him that I want to bring him
down to the tower but I'm only going to give them one signal. The
other crews are paying attention and pretty soon I have six "E Units"
in front of the tower about 25' apart. Check with my engines and
they are all cleaning switches and trying to get the equipment sorted
out. Call the first out Dinky engine that is right outside my window
and say "to the roundhouse, same move". (Whomever was with me
handling the phone never said a word about my procedeures.)
At this point another first out train says that he does not have any
passengers. I weigh the options and put him on Main #1. Carmen
come over and uncouple the unit. Next engine coming back for a
train gets that one and we work the power the same way. Get
another train off one of the mains and my backlog is gone. All
trains having arrived.
The wind is still blowing like crazy and all the equipment is in the
wrong places, (it might be right down in the Hill Yard but I have no
way of knowing). Dispatcher tells me there is no one to work 3rd
trick and I'm there until relieved. "Have a nice day!"
1st #12 shows up. No combo at Galesburg that night. Got Main #2
for him and that looks like an easy move. Not so, mailbag breath.
The Baggagemaster calls me up and says he can't load the mail
because of the train blocking the crossing. Ask the Dispatcher and
get no real solid answer. He is having his own problems. Ask crew
on 1st #12 if 2nd #12 will have a baggage car. They say "yes".
Baggagemaster does not like it but can't do anything else. 1st #12
leaves and my next train moved is that monster on Depot #1. I need
that track anyway for the usual Oregon Turn mail shuffle. 2nd #12
comes in and gets Aurora's mail. #78 with "F" units is behind
2nd #12. No one is sure of what to do with that train so I bring him
to Hurds Island on #3 and wait.
The Oregon Turn shows up and so does the train that is going to turn
as #156. I don't really recall how it was done but somehow the switching
gets done and #156 leaves, pretty close to #158's schedule. Against the
protests of the Eola Yardmaster the Oregon Turn somehow leaves and
goes someplace. The grand decision is made to put #78 on the Running
Track. I pull out the lever for the 3 to 2 Xover on Hurds Island and it
comes out half way, (as it should), the power needle moves but the lever
will not come all the way out when the power drops back to zero. This
is not surprising but I can't try again because the lever will not go back
in. Tell the Maintainers and they trudge out to Hurds Island. Bottom
line is the switch machine gears are froze up on the #3 end of the Xover
and they can not move it either way. They crank the other end over to
normal and spike it and come back and fix the circuits so signals will
clear on Main #2. Main #3 is a dead issue and so is #78. This makes
the yard work even more difficult because not all the trains will fit
without getting that Westbound signal on Main #3 that protects that
Xover.
Dispatcher tells me that I will be relieved at my 12 hours. Think it was
Dick Nelson. He is destined to be relieved by me in the Afternoon.
But how do I get home? It is quite obvious that driving is impossible
and my car is probably buried. In this case the answer is simple.
#8 is running close to on time and has a long mail stop at La Grange Rd.
I ask the Dispatcher and get one of those "I will not authorize anything and
I don't want to know about it" answers. With that to think about I have to
work out a plan. #8 is not scheduled to stop at Aurora. My relief shows up
and we agree that if he just holds the signal at the East end of the platform
my transportation is assured without any radio discussion. That is just
what happens. Up Main #2 comes a pair of side number board E7's
with snow on the roof of the lead unit. I get on the lead unit just as the
signal clears. Engine crew doesn't care about me but they don't like red
signals. I ask them how the lead unit got so covered with snow.
They said there were drifts around 5 or 6 feet deep East of Earlville.
Whatever #78 had cleared out had drifted back in the 4 or 5 hour
interval. Speed limit on the East End was 65 at that time. By the West
Eola plant we were up to 80. Really no crossings until Naperville where
he backed off and just let things run along at around 70. The towns
had been plowing, of course, and as we hit the piles at each crossing
I swear the engine seemed to lift. Sort of like that feeling when you
go over the top of a steep hill on a country road at a decent speed.
Got off at La Grange Rd. and walked home on plowed streets. It had
stopped snowing but the wind was still blowing.
The Aftermath:
Went to bed and set the alarm for the time I'd have to get up to walk
to Stone Avenue to get the proper Dinky. H.G. Cornwell was handling
the Dispatchers and Operators at that time and he called just about
the time I had to get up anyway. Asked me how I got home and how
I was going to work. Told him and then came the issue. Said I had
done fine with the trains but not with the mail. Said I could not, under
any circumstances, put mail on the wrong train but if it happened I
should have had the Dispatcher ring "GB" and tell them what was going
on. The post office had met 1st #12 and got nothing and then had to
be called back for 2nd #12. They were not pleased.
Got #158 home that night. The next day my Mother drove me to Aurora.
The overpass on Aurora Road over the EJ&E had a tremendous drift
on the East side. They had cleared a single lane with graders and were
moving people through in groups. One of the people ahead of us went
and stopped half way up the hill and then could not move. They fished
them out with a chain on a grader and my Mother did not make that
driving error, she kept moving. We got to the parking lot and my car
was well covered. I cleaned off everything outside but I noticed that
the grill was packed with snow. Got it cleaned out and opened the hood.
The engine compartment was full of wind packed snow. I dug out all
the things that would have to turn and gave that Chevy Straight Six a
try. Started right away and snow was being blasted out from the open
hood. They were still cleaning up the parking lot and the spaces
between the tracks a week later.
That's all I got,
Russ
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