Pete you caught me at the computer as the nightly news is
boring so here's an almost instant response.
This gets complicated and lengthy so get comfortable and
do keep in mind I am writing w/o going downstairs to research in the files. Just
shooting from memory. If I get something messed up Bud can correct any mistakes
I make.
1) The Aurora lodge (Aurora Div) covered everything from
Lavergne just outside Cicero to Savanna and to Galesburg with all branch lines
coming off them. Well technically at Savanna the division ended at Plum Creek a
couple miles east where the Galesburg line joined the C&I.The "mainline
pool" from Cicero to Galesburg was manned by Aurora men based at Galesburg with
their own lodge and officers,etc. Aurora men in the Aurora zone at the
Galesburg based lodge were on the same seniority roster as the men at the Aurora
lodge. A man hired at either location carried one seniority date and could work
at either location or any in between if his seniority was high enough. Rarely
did an Aurora/Aurora man go to Galesburg but fairly often an Aurora man based at
Galesburg would come to Aurora to work when the mainline pool was reduced in an
economic downturn. For locals on the mainline the general committee had set
Mendota as the dividing line on the mainline. I.E. a local starting out of
Mendota and working west was manned by the Aurora men in Galesburg. Working east
from Mendota was Aurora/Aurora men. The exception was the branch from Zearing to
Streator(the old IV&N) which was Aurora/Aurora territory. But there was an
exception (for a while) to the exception in that a local ran out of
Galesburg with a sidetrip to LaSalle that was manned by Aurora men from
Galesburg. And for a while there was a Eola to Galesburg wayfreight manned by
Aurora/Aurora.
The Chicago division/lodge had everything east of LaVergne but
the Aurora men operated on the 7 miles of mainline to CUS. See previous
discussion about prior right Chicago men on passenger.
The line from Galesburg to Savanna was Galesburg lodge men who
had their own lodge (Bud Linroth was the local chairman for many years). This
lodge also went to Peoria,Quincy,etc, This lodge also had the line from Sterling
to Denrock. Aurora rights covered only Mendota to Denrock so when we ran
Denrock-Savanna miles were recorded and from time to time a Galesburg lodge man
came to Aurora and worked the "Around the horn" wayfreight until he had
equalized the miles Aurora men had run on Galesburg lines. Then he went
home.
If you can find a track alignment book for the Aurora Division
the inside cover show this with a map very well.
2) Passenger service: To generalize there was a Nothern Pool
and a mainline pool. Once you could hold passenger you were on a turn in one
pool or the other. You worked various trains over the month so that everyone got
a chance to work the cream and some of the less desirable Some turns were better
than others with better hours or better days off,etc. You really needed a
calendar to know which train on which day your turn was working. Within the
Northern pool there was a "fast pool" and a "slow pool" which is pretty self
explanatory as the fast pool had more of the preferred runs. There were also
regular jobs that worked the same runs each day, generally the locals. There was
also a baggagemens pool similar to the trainmans/Condrs that only worked baggage
jobs.
Over the decades the pool would change as trains were
combined, added or taken off.
The passenger extra list was totally crazy as you would fill
in for a man on say his Northern turn and on the way back to Chicago you would
get a message to protect a turn leaving CUS on the mainline upon arrival there.
Then when coming back from Galesburg, Burlington or Ottumwa you might get
another message to protect another job. You literally could go for days w/o
getting home. You got your rest at the away terminal.
This leads to your question about step off. This gets
absolutely convoluted and complicated. It's a big file in the records. There was
the Aurora step off where a man deadheading into CUS would relieve his
counterpart eastbound on the Aurora platform and "work" in for him. Next day the
other guy would return the favor. More on this in a bit.
As to where passenger train crews changed it really depended
on the job and decades. Going north everyone came and went from Savanna. Going
west basically the locals or jobs going to Quincy changed at Galesburg. The
CZ/DZ train crews changed at Burlington. For a while they went to Ottumwa,but
this didn't last too long. On the jobs working thru beyond Galesburg the miles
were equalized with Ottumwa by assigning certain positions to Ottumwa
men.
Now here's where it gets real complicated. The jobs were based
out of Chicago but many of the men working these jobs were Aurora men living in
Galesburg in the Aurora lodge there.
In fact from time to time over the decades the two Aurora
lodges along with the East Ottumwa lodge would get into a type of family
feud over how many jobs should belong to each lodge. So the general committee
would review each sides arguments and then make a ruling as to the number of
positions assigned to each lodge.
For the Galesburg based Aurora men to avoid deadheading
to Chicago to protect their turn and then deadheading home there was a step off
at Galesburg just like at Aurora. These were authorized by local agreements with
local mgmt. A step off could be worked on a job running only to Galesburg and in
essence a man would be working his day off for his counterpart, who did likewise
tomorrow for him. It gave them more time at home and no deadhead
commutes.
3) Pool and assigned waycars at the same time. Sure it
happened. I think what you are describing are two separate pools in the same
seniority district where one pool has changed to pooled waycars and the other
did not. This was the case for several years where the Aurora men at Galesburg
had pooled waycars as well as the La Crosse division men working into Savanna.
At Cicero and Savanna the yard crews would have to keep the C&I waycars
separate from the pooled waycars. It was easy as for the most part the pool
cars were new and the assigned were the old wood ones.
Let me know if you still have questions after this lengthy
dissertation.
Leo
Phillipp