Bill et al....I, too, have sometimes thought that "I was born 30 years too
late"...I missed steam...came close one time in working the Ravenna switch
engine in 1956, but unfortunately (for me) both the locals got in on time and
we didn't get to use the "black beauty (5080) and my one time, close, but no
cigar opportunity was lost forever.
As I said earlier I did get to work with several real "old heads" and got in on
lots of good stories. and colorful nick names...most of which are unprintable
on this list.
Pete
-----Original Message-----
From: William Barber clipperw@gmail.com [CBQ] <CBQ@yahoogroups.com>
To: CBQ <CBQ@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thu, May 22, 2014 12:33 pm
Subject: [CBQ] Re: Re: Student Trips
Pete,
I have to agree with Ken Martin's comments. The stories and characters are
still there. They are just different from those driven by earlier actions and
events. My engineer son on the UP occasionally works with one conductor who
always brings an imaginary friend along and talks to him the whole trip just as
though he were sitting there in the cab. Yes, for some it is "just a job', but
I am sure that was always true. For others, like my son, they love what they do
in spite of the long and weird hours. He just wishes that he had been able to
start earlier than he did.
Bill Barber
Gravois Mills, MO
On May 21, 2014, at 2:12 PM, CBQ@yahoogroups.com wrote:
Re: Student Trips
Wed May 21, 2014 8:48 am (PDT) . Posted by:
petehedgpeth
OK Bill That's "all well and good"...but just think of all the stories these
new guys won't have to tell..They won't have any"characters" to
describe...It'll be "just a job"
I always, in instances like this quote a message from an old RAILROAD MAGAZINE
article..."What we endure with hardship we remember with delight"...
Made my first student trips in 1956...At that time there were men around who
had seniority back to the "teens"..Lots of good stories...some of them might
have even been true.
My experience was that in most cases...once the old guys found out that you
weren't a complete screw up...and that you were trying to do your best work and
best of all when they found out that you knew something about
railroading...which I did having grown up on the RPL&N RR...they would accept
you with a minimum of criticism.
I for one consider myself for tunate to have worked at the tail end of the age
when railroading was what it had always been and that most of the old
traditions and "ways" were still very much in effect.
I'm sure that railroading is much safer now and certainly more efficient...but
I'm sure that it ain't as much fun as some of us old coots remember.
Pete
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