Pete,
While working third trick at Monmouth I was watching a Westbound train which
was about two thirds by when a tank car passed with a flaming hot box, that got
my attention. The rear end went by and I gave them the hotbox signal and then
went in and radioed the train. The car was set out on the center siding. I was
told later the journal was getting close to going. A week or so went by and I
received a nice letter from I.W. Christ, Superintendent which I still have
somewhere.
After returning from the service in 67, I went back to third trick at Monmouth.
The old M&St L then C&NW yard was visible out the waiting room windows. The old
turntable was being removed and apparently one of the cutting torches caught
the wood pit on fire. It smoldered during the night and in addition to smelling
covered every thing with ash.
Not a smelly story but another one. I worked Fairfield third trick an awful lot
as the regular operator was also an extra dispatcher. Ottumwa would call when
East bound trains departed, I would call the RI tower operator and let him
know. This one night I called the tower and told him number ? was out and then
apparently I laid my head on the desk and fell asleep. It turned out the RI
operator did the same. The fireman had to walk to the tower and wake him.
Steve, in SC did you know Jack Brain?
I think I have told this story on another list, again this happened in
Monmouth. I wasn't working when this happened. C&NW civil engineers were
measuring near the diamond with a steel tape, it happened No.17 was coming when
one of the engineers pulled the tape across the diamond setting the high green
to red in the engineers face. You could hear the train going into emergency,
needless to say it didn't get stopped before it got to the diamond. The signal
was a block and a half East of the diamond and the speed limit was 40 mph.
Lenny Ohrnell
Sent from my iP
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