Hi
All:
worked for the Peoria and Pekin Union for a while and was the
operator at
P&PU Junction (Telegraph call NF) at the east end of the
P&PU yard. We
handled train orders for the N&W and Illinois Terminal
and at one time the
Pennsy. The N&W handled a lot of High Wides out of
Caterpillar for the east
coast. We usually put the orders up in the Ironman
holder. This was a steel
structure that held the orders in the Y shaped
holders. There were at three
different heights, engineer on top, flagman in
the middle and conductor low.
We only used the top and bottom.
Being
new with no experience I hung the orders not thinking about the wide
load
Cat D10's in the train. The engineer grabbed his orders and the Ironman
would automatically drop the Y down so it wouldn't get caught on anything or
be in the way of the conductor. We were supposed to be outside to watch for
problems when the trains went by. Luckily I was on the correct end on the
train when one of the Cat D10 dozers grabbed the conductors orders. I made a
quick grab to get them back and handed them to the conductor when he came by
and no one saw my rookie mistake.
After that I always watched for
wide loads in the list. Working at Pekin
Tower on the south end of the
P&PU, I used the Ironman for the engineer but
always used the hand held
Y for the conductors. The Ironman was located on a
curve and you just
never knew what might be hanging out on long cars. The
only exception was
the C&IM coal trains which were always 50' coal cars.
Roger Kujawa
Morton, IL.
See my AGW Rwy at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AtlanticGreatWesternRailway/