--- In BRHSlist@y..., "steam5356" <steam5356@y...> wrote:
>
> My Grandpa carried in his wallet, a card. In bold letters is says
> Wabash Railroad Company. It certifies that he passed examination of
> operating rules and instructions pertaining to the duties of :
> Engineer C,B,& Q,. It's dated: Ottumwa, Oct 21 1958. It's signed
by
> two examiners and Grandpa.
>
> First what was the connection between the Wabash and the Q??
> Did all engineers have this certificate,or would it have to do
with
> the conversion from steam engineer to diesel somehow??
>
> Would love to hear any thoughts on this card. Thanks alot!
when you hired out on the west ottumwa division you were given 3 rule
books. first of course was cb&q, second was wabash and third was
chicago greatwestern. reason for wabash was Q ran on wabash from
albia to tracy, going from ottumwa to des moines. reason for cgw was
Q ran on greatwestern from des moines to main line at thayer, (gee
hope its thayer, just spaced it) running from des moines to creston.
this dreaded job was called 'the night run.' as pete has stated you
needed to be tested on and understand the operating rules of the host
railroad you were operating on. yes all engineers/firemen and
conductors/brakemen would have this book of rules certificate. this
was done every 2 years.
quick example of different operating practices on the wabash. first
for trains of equal class, superiority by direction was reversed,
south bound on Q had rights over northbound, but at the meets at
sheahan (on the wabash)southbound Q trains took the siding to wait
for northbound traffic. another small thing was the orders. Q orders
would tell you to take siding a meet so many trains, with engine
numbers so and so for each train. wabash orders would tell you to
meet train no XXX. thats it. could be 1, 2 or three trains running
ahead of wabash xxx, was not mentioned on their orders. another
difference Q train engine number was first unit and number boards
were lit on first unit, wabash could have any unit in the consist as
train number such as extra 1961 north, number boards would be lit on
1961 but could not/would not be the first unit as we were used to on
the Q. when i hired out my dad told/ordered me, you never goto sleep
at sheahan. get off and walk around, do anything. guess there had
been crews where all nodded off and something went by, and did not
get the engine number. knowing the wabash, was it the train you were
looking for or another on running ahead of it. get on phone and call
operator at albia? then whole world knew everyone was/had been
asleep! there were ways to word it, forget now, but every one still
knew!
believe the road change from wab to Q or Q to wab just north of
lovillia where the track made a jog, but it was all dispatched by the
wabash. think there is/was a marker to tell mow where line of
seperation was between railroads. believe the passing track at bussey
was the old wabash main, don't quote me on this as has been almost 40
years. in the early 60's you could still see the old unused grade.
don't know if its still there today or not.
more than you wanted to know,
warren
|