One of my few regrets is that I
never got to work with a steam engine. IIRC the last
steam on the Lincoln-Hastings line was 1955 which was
a year before I hired out...Summer 56, my first summer
they kept a steam engine at Ravenna for
protection..IIRC it was the 5080. At that time
waycars were still changed at Ravenna. The switch
engine worked nights 1:00am-9:00am. The rule was
that if a road train was "called in" for within a half
hour of the switch engine going off duty it had to be
held over to make the change..Otherwise the crews make
their own waycar change.
On several of my mainline trips Lincoln-Ravenna at
Ravenna the switch crew would be working with the steam
engine to make a waycar change.
There was were two locals which tied up at Ravenna 6
nights a week. The Burwell Local and the
Lincoln-Ravenna local. These locals used a Geep for
power, hence there was always a diesel for the switch
engine to use, but if those locals got out in the
morning and the switch crew was held over they would use
the steam engne.
I got forced to the Ravenna switcher late summer of
56...It was an awful job..Not much work but all nights
and me staying in an old non ac hotel getting no sleep
and the job paid little or no OT...
I thought surely one night of the three weeks I was
there I'd get a chance with the Black Beauty as one of
the switchmen called it...Well, it never happened. So
as far as the CB*Q is concerned I'm steamless...However
in my early life on theRock Port Langdon and Northern I
spent lots of time on the 440 and 2 Spot. I wasn't big
enoough to lift the shovel, so I picked up the coal and
threw it in the firebox by hand..And then of course I
had to wipe my hands on my face...My dad was the
engineer the last 3 years of operation and he could work
around coal and dirt all day and never get any on
himself...Such was not the case for me.
Pete
-----Original Message-----
From: Noel Crawford
<georgecrawfordsr@comcast.net>
To: CBQ
<CBQ@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Mon, Jan 28, 2013 8:28 pm
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Story POsts
Pete:
Non of my people worked for the Q or any
other RR. However, I have kid memories of
the folks who did. My brother in law's
stepfather, Rick Walthers worked as an
engineer starting as a fireman on steam
engines. I remember the day we were painting
the interior of the Brown McDonald store in
York. Rick was working with us when he got
called for the extra board. He took of for
Lincoln like a dog with a tin can on it's
tail. It is a wonder he made it in time for
his call driving 50 miles down old highway
34 years before the interstate. When his
train came through York, my dad and I were
out on the embankment overlooking the line.
Rick was firing a Mike 04a. He was in the
gangway grinning like a kid. The engineer
gave us a long tug on the whistle cord which
put a bigger grin on my face. Rick loved
steam but hated diesels. Towards the end he
really disliked his job. He died in the 80's
of lung cancer. One of the best stories I
have of him is when in the 70's he put an
extra empty box car in his train which was
the local. He knew they were going up to
Benedict on the old KC&O. He then got
the crew to help him take the big heavy roll
top desk out of the Benedict Depot and haul
it back to Lincoln. It was the original desk
from the KC&O. He restored it to
pristine condition.He had gotten permission
from someone to do this. Anyhow I would have
killed for that desk, but his widow gave it
to Rick's daughter for her husband who
worked for the UP. They still have it. By
the way I am 3 score and 12. LOL
Noel
On 1/28/2013 8:40 PM, HOL WAGNER wrote:
Pete:
I'm a year older than Louis, so you've
got a decade on me, too. And what a
decade: The differences between the
1950s and the 1960s were monumental in
railroading, with the change from steam
to diesel and the decline of passenger
service. I'm lucky to have ridden a
number of Q passenger trains in the late
'50s and early '60s, while service
standards were still quite high, and my
all-tme favorite dining car experience
was eating dinner in the old heavyweight
diner-lounge car (car 325 for those who
care) on No. 26 out of Kansas City for
Omaha. While I don't recall what I had
(except that there were peas, and the Q
always served the best peas I've ever
eaten), it was just the ambience of the
whole setting, with superb service by
the dining car crew and the fabulous
ride of the old heavyweight car which
had the rear half of the original dining
room converted into a lounge, complete
with rear end windows, creating
something of a solarium. Never left
that car all the way to Omaha!
Hol
To:
cbq@yahoogroups.com
From:
Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com
Date: Mon, 28 Jan 2013 20:12:40 -0500
Subject: [CBQ] Story POsts
Charlie...I
hope you really mean it
when you say that this
"good stuff" ie stories
is going to get
preserved...I've often
wondered over the years if
someone was actually doing
it.
I've done some writing on
my own regarding my
"Adventures" as a Terminal
Trainmaster on the RI, and
am gathering
material...actually I've
already gathered it..just a
matter of getting it on here
and other places...for a
Burlington Story...I've got
the title, which I'll not
reveal here, but this recent
stuff started by Louis Z.
has "tripped my trigger" and
now approaching the Biblical
"three score and 10 plus 10
if your strong"...I'm closer
to the "home terminal" than
most of you so the time of
procrastination is almost
past... Time to do it is
now.
I've appreciated so much
John and now Louis
emphsizing the important of
the Stories....I've always
thought that the people side
of the railroads was "where
it was" for me...
Louis your "word picture"
of the TCZ arriving at
LaCross was great....My
granddaughter is a golfer
and she played that course
last summer..She came home
and said.."Grampa...that
golf course was right by a
railroad track...the whole
picture came immediately
into focus.
The smell of the diner is
someting one never
forgets...When my dad and I
would be waiting at Langdon
for 21 and 26 back in the
50's...they usually met
somplace around Langdon so
we would catch them
both...26 carried a
diner-parlor car on the rear
end...As the train would
leave and the diner would go
by the platform the aroma of
dinner preparations would
waft from the open kitchen
door and the grinning black
chef would toss out a bone
to the "depot
dog"...Actually he was the
Langdon postmaster's dog and
his name was Spot. We
would usually make the
Langdon trip before having
supper at home and those
diner smells created a
"lustful desire" for a
"dinner in the diner"...well
my mother always had a good
one for us when we got home.
Pete