Well, Doug I find it hard to believe you didn't hear this one when on the property but here we go.
I told this story at my presentation at the BRHS 2014 meet in Rock Island as a prelude to the main subject and as a missed item to the 2013 presentation at the annual meet at Mendota.
Waycars were marked in various ways to make it easy for yard crews to put the correct assigned
Caboose on the right train and also for road crews to find their "car" on the Waycar track.
Sometime in the late 50's or in the 60's there was a certain Condr w/ the nickname "Gabby" who was working the Rockfalls Wayfreight that operated Eola to Rockfalls westbound one day and return the next. Layover at Rock Falls was near the roundhouse in the Waycar (no hotel accomadations) so all meals,etc were at the crews expense.
Since it was autumn and the pheasants were plentiful along the branch ROW, "Gabby" and the hogger worked out a system where the head end let the rear end know when a pheasant was available. "Gabby" would step out on the back platform of the w/c and " bag" the pheasant with his shotgun. The train would make a,momentary stop while the bird was retrieved. Upon arrival at Rockfalls the entire crew would enjoy a pheasant dinner in the Waycar.
Things went along just fine until one day an Illinois game warden climbed aboard the Waycar. Seems local citizens had grown tired of the shotgun blasts and what they termed unfair hunting methods. I don't know what fines were levied or what was confiscated. But the jobs Waycar soon sported a pheasant in flight on its side, everyone knew which job this Waycar was to be go on.
I suspect that either Mike Meketti or Lew Spears were the "artist" that did the work on the Waycar. More info. On Mike Meketti's (Aurora Div. engineer) artistic abilities will be in an upcoming BRHS bulletin.
Leo
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