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I hear you on Modern Technology?? I got back on now with BN having been in the service when all the mergers and Amtk came along. I was hired as an operator. I would go to Compass(the then new computer program just introduced by and on BN)Class in Cicero at 8 AM- None each day then ride the dinky to Congress Park and catch a nap on an old way car bunk in the locker room. We had the latest IBM equipment in the office with card punch, card reader, printer Etc. All on a plank floor someone had the brains to nail Masonite on. You know what happened to that with water, spilled coffee or pop, and the usual sand and dirt (or MUD)you tracked in when you had to walk the yard getting numbers. I think IBM was there for the card reader at least once a day some times
twice. We had to punch a card for each car interchanged and then get the reader to process it into the computer. In the mean time often the CONGO (the local )would switch out the yard and often take cars to Westmont(Spur off track 1 on the north side there) or Downers Grove. We would sometimes run 4 sections of 351 Cicero to Galesburg with at least one or more picking up cars somewhere between Cicero and Aurora. This one nite they picked up at Congress Park and Downers Grove. The north cars were at Westmont for a 185 going north. The train never stopped at Eola. So the cards come across and I arrived the train at Congress Park and then tried to get the reader to read a consist of about 125 car cards. And it took about 2 hours as it would keep timing out. Finally it read all the cards only to reject them as the train had already arrived and departed EOLA. The train had not stopped there so the
operator had just arrived and departed the train with no consist. I was PISSED. Called the help desk and they said they would have to back the train up in the computer to Congress Park. So I called Eola and told the operator there(I was also qualified there) to not touch the train till I called. Got the car cards in and then departed the train and then called Eola.
At Congress Park in the spring of 73 we had the Agent, a ticket clerk(Wife of the East End B&B Foreman lived up stairs) two operators on 2nd Shift and one on third. The relief man worked two thirds at CP a third at Eola and two seconds at CP. After working there either 2nd Operator or the Extra Op job 2nd trick management changed the extra job to a clerk and gave that job the same days off as the operator. So I drifted to training at Union Ave Tower, Aurora Tower and Eola all three shifts as Operator and the Agent North Aurora( it was a computer job at Eola) winding up at Aurora tower from June to the end of Dec when I got the East End Relief job on assignment only to give it up for the Dispatchers office in Cicero on Valentines Day 1974 The Spins Number assigned to the tracks by the Spins Charts were for computer reporting Still have a full box of computer cars for my layout now in the building stage. Any one got a reader?? Steve in SC From: Larry <lsallee@yahoo.com> To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com Sent: Fri, August 3, 2012 7:06:28 PM Subject: [CBQ] Re: Commuter train personnel I find the whole thing about using sealing wax and a station stamp absolutely fascinating. I guess I always associated something like that with perfumed letters dispatched by smitten lovers in the Victorian era, and yet here it was, common practice on a class one railroad until the mid-70's! __._,_.___
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