John D. Mitchell, Jr. wrote:
A friend of mine is a CSX conductor, working Garrett,
IN to Chicago. He tells me that, in some parts of
Chicago, if the train goes into emergency, i.e parted
train, blown air hose, etc., they have orders not to
leave the cab, to check the cause, until the special
agent AND DOG arrive! Same story at dual controled
switchs when on "hand" and time releases. On the
"real" railroad, this was not a problem.
John
Approx. 30 years ago, I entered the caboose of a w/b ICRR train.
They were waiting in the siding at Manchester, Iowa, and since I
knew the crew, we chewed the fat.
On the inside of the door was a hand hold similar to those on the
side of a freight car, only shorter. The same type of handhold
was mounted on the adjacent wall and the two were parallel. I
noted the paint was worn off the wall and door behind the two
handholds. The conductor said "the crews running into Chiago
(from Freeport, Illinois) place a knuckle pin behind the handholds
so no one can open the door from the outside. Criminals board the
caboose and attempt to get in and this stops them." He also
remarked "there isn't a trainman east of Freeport who travels
without a pistol in his grip."
LWA
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