Re: Fwd: [CBQ] Roustabout

["John D. Mitchell, Jr." <cbqrr47@yahoo.com>]

Leo

The conductor was right about way freight rate and later agreements made that clear. Besides all of the lapbacks and side trips made mileage a nightmare. There was a local agreement for the Metropolis Local that the engine crew would be paid YARD rate and the trainman and conductor rates would be made HOURLY way freight rate i.e. daily rate divided by 8 and time and a half after 8 hours. This was after the Metropolis switching limits and yard engines were abolished. I don't believe this was done anywhere else on the Q. This ,of course, did not observe the "Unit Rule". In your case, I don't know how the Super got around all the p/u's and s/o's plus all the in-route switching. The local's train was certainly not in "station order". (For those who are not familar with the unit rule, it is that if one part of a crew receives a higher rate then the entire crew i.e. the unit, gets the higher rate.)

John

From: "qutlx1@aol.com" <qutlx1@aol.com>
To: cbq@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, October 18, 2012 8:13 PM
Subject: Fwd: [CBQ] Roustabout

----- Forwarded Message -----

 

John,

 

Thanks for the response confirming my understanding of Roustabout service. Now here's the specific example I have stumbled upon dated 1896. I ask you and others to pull out your Q maps of the Aurora Div dated prior to 1932 (thats key) and follow along on an interesting true to life labor /mgt dispute. What rate of pay would you expect a Roustabout doing all this switching, as you describe, to earn: thru frt,or way frt (as road switcher didn't exist until the mid 1960s) ?

 

Here we go:

 

The Condr. on the "Roustabout" based at Mendota,IL writes a letter to the Aurora Lodge of the BRT asking for the local chairman to pursue a change in rate of pay for his job as he does not believe thru frt rate is correct. He goes on to explain in detail that after leaving their orginating terminal of Mendota,IL eastbound they proceed to Earlville where the switch out the eastward & westward sidings for cars going into Earlville proper, and onto Ottawa on the Fox River Branch. They spot the local Earlville business and take the Ottawa and Baker cars with them. They spot and pull the grain and coal at Baker and then go on to Ottawa(via Burgess Jct) and return to Earlville. They then gather up cars for Radley,Paw Paw and Shabbona along with all North (St Paul,LaCrosse,etc) and Rockford,IL cars.

 

Upon reaching Shabbona(via Paw Paw) they switch out the sidings there and put the Rockford and North cars into blocks for the trains going that way. They take the Shabbona propers to downtown Shabbona for the way frt to spot and take back with them any cars for the "mainline stations and points west"in route back to Mendota. They typically can spend 3-4 hours switiching at Shabbona.Once back at Earlville they put west cars on the westward siding and east cars on the eastward siding and then finally proceed back to Mendota and tie up.

 

The local chairman writes the Supt who responds that the thru frt rate is correct for the job. Later in the file the same Supt writes to agents at Mendota and Shabbona asking them to ensure that the Roustabout has instructions and does indeed switch out the North and Rockford cars from the other cars on the sidings at Shabbona so the North bound wayfreights are not delayed switching out this traffic at Shabbona.

 

Besdies the shear volume of switching I was stopped short by the routing of cars vs what I saw in the early days of BN(which I am assuming was left over from the Q) in that Eola and Cicero were used to block all this business.

 

Bottom line, back in the day a road job didn't mean just putting up your feet under the cupola window.!

 

Leo Phillipp

 

 

 

A "roustabout" was an old term for what we would call a "road switcher" job. They typically ran for shorter runs and did more switching that most local or way freights. Some operated in switching limits while others did not. Of course, the ones in switching limits were manned by yard crews.

From: "qutlx1@aol.com" <qutlx1@aol.com>
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, October 15, 2012 7:28 PM
Subject: [CBQ] Roustabout

 

Any body familiar w/the term Roustabout as used by the Q ? There were at least two road jobs officially referred to as Roustabouts on the Aurora Div from 1890 to the 1950s There was also one switch job at Eola yard referred to as the Roustabout. If any one has their copy of the "schedule " handy I sure would appreciate the verbage as mine is in the attic. I am trying to understand the crews complaint/claim from the 1890's. Thanks Leo Phillipp Ps- thinking about an Article on this as it would enlighten us all how cars were switched and routed 100 plus years ago vs today's blocking schemes Sent from my iPhone

 

 

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