Leo
This is GREAT. I laughed until I cried. I tell these
tales and everyone looks at me like I'm making them
up!
(well, maybe SOME but not ALL) By the way, I only used
a few of my best ones in BB #35!
John D. Mitchell, Jr.
--- qutlx1@a... wrote:
> Eric you said you'd be interested in hearing more
> Fox River branch true
> stories:
> These are all BN not Q but I swear they are true as
> for several of them I was
> there.
>
> 1) In the early 70's sometime between 1970 and 1972
> #11811 was headed west at
> Oswego. When they came around the curve into town
> the target on the stub
> trk(old coal yard) was perpendicular to the main?!
> Too late, as the units and
> several cars tried to fit into this little stub
> after not negotiating the
> switch at 30 mph. If memory serves me correctly some
> kids were eventually
> found to have busted the lock and thrown the
> switch.The engineer was
> McPeake,Condr "Beatle Bailey"(this was the incident
> that caused him to
> "chuck" his rights two days later.
> 2) About the mid 70s(73-75) Dick Moss and "Steady
> Eddie" Eversoll were
> scratching their way up South Ottawa one night and
> some hoppers of Soda Ash
> and such headed for the glass plants in Streator got
> into the harmonic rock
> cadence(see any Q or BN special instructions on that
> subject).The rear hand
> full of cars and the W/C laid over on their sides.I
> was on the wrecker next
> morning and recall clearly the impression in the
> window glass next to the
> desk of Dick Moss' body impression.
> 3)A year or so later I again was called for the
> wrecker.This time we went
> south(west) of Grand Ridge where Granny and Steddie
> Eddie had impaled a TTX
> flat into the bank of a creek.Yes it looked just
> like a gaint had thrown that
> flat end first into the opposite bank.Turned out
> that by looking at the cuts
> in the ties it was determined the car had been
> bouncing along for some number
> of miles before leaving the rails at the bridges
> guard rails. I was working
> w/Granny at Rochelle a few weeks later when he
> received his 30 day unpaid
> vacation. Oh,did I mention the flat was only about 6
> to 10 ahead of the w/c?
> 4) A while after that the economy took a dive and I
> ended up on the extra
> list. Caught #11811 one cold night and after doing
> the usual moves at Wedron
> we headed for Ottawa." Hey kid,cut behind 60 cars
> (on a Q gon) and set them
> on trk 5" says Granny on the radio. Remember its 2
> 0r 3 AM,ptich dark and
> Steddie Eddie lets me off at about 8mph or so.After
> I recover my bearings
> I've lost count and miss the cut?! The cut is only
> 15 or so from the w/c So
> Dallas Felker drops off the w/c and we back the cut
> up to us.Pull ahead,line
> the switch and shove into 5 and couple into the
> sand hoppers already
> there.Steddie Eddie starts shoving and after 5 or 6
> of our cars make it over
> the switch one pair of wheels decides to go back
> down the main. All you know
> what started flying around and Dallas and I headed
> for the fence row with
> Dallas hollering on the radio to Eddie that "your on
> the ground" "stop the
> train". After several "whats" and finally an
> emerrgency application we stop.
> There are sand hoppers buried up to their sills. We
> managed to rerail the
> more minor ones and after the Brass hats show up to
> survey the situation and
> a very minor couple of questions we hop in the cab
> and go home.
> 5) Sometime in the earlier 70s #11812 is headed east
> at Ottawa and is to set
> out on 4 trk. But 3 is out to foul on the east end.
> No problem,the crew ties
> into the cars on 4 with their s/o but doesnt couple
> the air as they figure
> with all that muscle they'll just shove them back
> the car length or so they
> need. The hogger widens out but the cut doesnt
> move.On the other hand the
> rail under the units did move(sideways) like a sun
> kink.Seems they were
> trying to shove a long cut of cars all with the air
> dynamitted on them.
> 6) Then there was the time we were called for an
> extra Fox River on a Sunday
> and we spent the day switching the sand plant at
> Wedron. The most exciting
> part of that day was one of us drove a car to Wedron
> so we could leave the
> property to go to lunch at Hanks near Ottawa.
> Does a certain engineer who subscribes to this list
> recall that day?
> Leo
>
>
>
__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more
http://taxes.yahoo.com/
|