Pete.....
I still use "I was down on the deck puttin' in a fire" once in a while :>) Of course, nobody knows what it means LOL
When the BN gave Bob Richardson the mechanical records out of the C&S roundhouse in Denver, they must not have remembered that the Engine crews used to work for the Master Mechanic, and not the Operating Dept., because, in addition to some interesting correspondance with the Edwards Car Company about gas-mechanical conversions of narrow gauge cars for the South Park line, it was full of personnel records of long gone C&S men. There are several more or less amusing stories in there, if anybody's interested.
The first time I actually saw that excuse in writing was in one of those Investigations. The C&S used to run "fisherman's specials" up the Platte Canyon on weekends. They'd take a trainload of folks up to a siding and set 'em out until early Monday morning, then bring 'em back down into Denver in time for work.
This time, the extra got on the regular train's "time" before they got into town. As a result, the two trains came together near the Clear Creek trestle. At the "party", when the extra's Fireman was asked what he knew of the collision, he said: "I was down on the deck attending to my fire. When the engineer put the train into Emergency, I looked out my front cab window and saw the other train coming. I jumped out the gangway into Clear Creek, which was dry at the time, and broke both my ankles."
So there :>)
Mike
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CBQ@yahoogroups.com, Jpslhedgpeth@... wrote:
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> Mike et al..."Down in the nose" replaced "Puttin in a fire" when diesels replaced steam..I was never involved in any kind of "incident" where a fireman was involved when he was not..."back in the engine room"...or "down in the nose"...Read the old ICC Accident Investigations and you'll see how that "excuse" came from "eternity past" into the diesel age.
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> I love "account"...also...that was one of the terms the "new" management tried to get us to get rid of...."See no failure to comply" was indeed a classic and nearly always followed a diatribe promising dire consequences from the Supt. or General Manager.
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> All of these things continue to build support for my oft repeatedd adage..."The only thing that changes from railroad to railroad is the railroad name and the people name...The stories and "incident reports"...remain the same from railroad to railroad over the years.
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> Pete
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