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Louis et al...You may have, inadvertently, mentioned a couple of "ancient" railroad customs and terms in your comments...In keeping with my wife's once upon a time comment which has been attested by others that.."EVERYTHING REMINDS YOU OF SOMETHING I offer the following.
No. 1...."Got their rest"...in what other industry or context was that _expression_ ever used??
No. 2. Others were "Grilled along with bacon and eggs"...I remember one old time roadmaster saying..."I'd rather have a hamburger in the worst restaurant in town than A STEAK "ON THAT BUSINESS CAR" "Grilled" was an accurate if, in some cases, understated description of the conversations on said business cars.
3. "The usual hearty breakfast".....I recall early in my "career" an old Supt. saying..."You better eat every chance you get cause you never know when you'll get another chance"...My oft repeated comment on that statement was..."Those who lived by that adage appeared to not have missed many chances.
Pete
-----Original Message-----
From: LZadnichek <LZadnichek@aol.com> To: CBQ <CBQ@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wed, Feb 26, 2014 12:03 pm Subject: Re: [CBQ] RE: What is the second car? February 26, 2014
Pete - I vaguely recall that since the DZ carried an obs car with a
diaphragm on the rear, occasionally business cars
were coupled behind during later years, particularly Mr. Murphy's
stainless steel car. Otherwise, I think the no cars behind the obs policy
continued on other streamlined trains equipped with the rounded-tail end obs
cars until they were annulled or folded into BN. The only exception to this that
I personally saw was Mr. Murphy's car coupled behind the rounded tail end obs on
the North Coast Limited with him waving his hat to MOW employees on the
LaCrosse Division in the mid-1960s, so there were exceptions to the
rule. Also, since the rounded-tail end obs cars lacked diaphragms on their
rear ends, there was no way for executive staff and guests in business cars to
enter the passenger train and, of course, no way for the train crews to enter
the business car in case of an emergency. My father took many trips on business
cars during his career and I remember him mentioning how diesel fumes would
enter the business car air vents from being tucked in directly behind the
motors, not to mention the sound from the air horns being audible. Plus, to view
the track, they had to walk back through the train to sit in the obs car on
the rear end. Largely, if my memory is correct, business cars were normally
scheduled out of CUS on night trains if possible so the staff could meet and get
their rest in route to the division point to be inspected first thing the next
morning after the usual hearty breakfast to which the division superintendent,
master mechanic and other mid-level officers were invited to be grilled along
with the bacon and eggs. It was a different era and culture from today's style
of railroading at the executive level. The Q for years maintained a large fleet
of business cars of different configurations and ages. Even division
superintendents had their own business cars up into the mid-to-late 1950s,
usually the smallest and oldest cars in the fleet that were, in my father's
words, the most uncomfortable. My own favorite business car was the
Round-Up that was assigned to the Traffic Department for entertaining shippers.
The Round-Up was the only business car where liquor was allowed and it was
just for the shippers and other important guests, not for Q
employees.
Louis Zadnichek II
Fairhope, AL
In a message dated 2/25/2014 8:56:31 P.M. Central Standard Time,
Jpslhedgpeth@aol.com writes:
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