In BB#35, I have some pictures of the special all
business car train (well, there was one coach used as
a "rider car" for the train crew), that ran down to
Paducah, in May 1964.
John D. Mitchell, Jr.
--- LZadnichek@aol.com wrote:
> December 28, 2004
>
> Gerald and all - Reference placement of CB&Q
> business cars, as I recollect
> from what my late father told me, it was standard
> operating procedure during the
> 1960s for the cars to be placed directly between the
> last baggage car and the
> first coach in any Zephyr passenger train carrying a
> rearend observation car.
> Normally, the open platform faced the baggage car so
> train crew and
> executives riding the business car could go back and
> forth safety into the passenger
> train. Plus, the passenger department did not want
> the rear view blocked for
> premium paying passengers in the observation car.
>
> If the business car was to be switched out at an
> intermediate division point,
> then the Zephyr passenger train would have to be
> broken in two so that the
> business car could be removed. This would, of
> course, entail some additional
> station delay time that the engineer would have to
> make up with alittle fast
> running to the next station stop. Only if the
> passenger train no longer carried an
> observation car, then, the business car would be
> attached at the rear end
> with the open platform facing to the rear. I'm sure
> that there were exceptions to
> the rule, but, in general, that was how the business
> cars were handled in the
> 1960s.
>
> I personally saw Mr. Murphy waving his straw Panama
> hat from the open
> platform of the stainless steel "Burlington" to
> track repair crews in the summer of
> 1965 on the LaCrosse Division where I was working on
> a steel gang as a college
> student. The business car was on the rear end of, as
> I recall, a combined
> North Coast Limited and Empire Builder (two complete
> trainsets coupled together
> end-on-end with all the E units coupled elephant
> style leading). This was the
> first train to pass over newly reconstructed tracks
> along the Mississippi River
> near Winona. My gang had taken part in repairing the
> washed out tracks caused
> by the flooding river. I'm pleased to remember that
> when I waved back to Mr.
> Murphy, I caught his eye and he waved his hat a
> second time to me. It sure made
> me feel "appreciated" at the time. This in one of
> the many reasons why CB&Q
> employees had such deep respect and reverence for
> Mr. Murphy.
>
> Where passenger trains had been taken off, the
> business car was placed
> directly behind the last diesel locomotive and the
> first freight car with no
> particular attention being given to which direction
> the open platform faced. This
> placement was the "safest" spot in the freight train
> to prevent slack action at
> the rear end from damaging the car itself and
> injuring its occupants. I don't
> ever recall hearing about any extra movements where
> just a locomotive and a
> business car were used. The CB&Q was far to frugal
> to move business cars in such
> an expensive manner when there was always a
> passenger or freight train to
> carry them.
>
> My late father also related that train crews were
> usually welcome to hot
> coffee, rolls and occasionally "to go" meals when a
> business car moved in one of
> their passenger or freight trains. The CB&Q of those
> days was much more of a
> big, happy extended family than what today's BNSF
> employees might ever imagine.
> I hope my recollections will help those CB&Q
> modelers wondering where to place
> a business car in their miniature Zephyr or freight
> train. Best Regards,
>
> Louis Zadnichek II
> Fairhope, AL
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>
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