Don Brown..I love your Mr. Dithers analogy..My. Mr. Dither's was George Voss..Terminal Supt at Blue Island for the Rock Island. My experience is a close parallel to you...In fact it is an "exact" representation. My "supposed" hours were to be 6:00pm to 6:00am. However George wanted me to come in "early"..before 6:00pm so he could telll me all the things he wanted to be done that night and to "regurgitate" all of the things that he had bawled me out that morning for not doing the night before....Then he wanted me to stay "late" in the morning so that he could rehash all the stuff that hadn't gotten done that night that I was supposed to have done then. One morning after one over these "overtime" sessions George told me to "go home and get your rest"..I replied "SLEEP FAST HUH"..George
did not like that comment.
Later on in my "career" at Blue Island George took to having me give him a "wake up call" at home at 6:00am. Then, I presume the inquisition on his end was being done from his bedroom.
As a "parting shot"..when i availed myself of an escape hatch by accepting the offer of a job in the Freight Claims Department in the spring of 1964 and it became necessary for George to release me...he hemmed and hawed and stalled delaying my release for about two weeks after he was supposed to have done it....
Toward the close of my tenure and during the "transition" one of my CO NIGHT TRAINMASTER "Targets" made this astute observation...."Hedgpeth went from the "guy who couldn't do anything right"..to THE MOST VALUABLE MAN ON THE DIVISION.
Don, if it wasn't for this stuff we wouldn't have any good stories to "regale" the Troops wit;h...I always fall back and quote this statement from a story in an old issue of RAILROAD Magazine. "What we endure with hardship....we remember with delight"....
Louis Zadnicheck whose father was Q Division Supt at Aurora during this same time was acquainted with GHV.
Pete
-----Original Message-----
From: Don Brown
dbrown02@rochester.rr.com [CBQ] <
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To: CBQ <
CBQ@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sat, Jan 13, 2018 1:00 pm
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Re: Elephant Style Es
And then there were those of us who worked under a (non-CB&Q) Terminal Superintendent to whom WHATEVER you did was wrong! As midnight Yardmaster, the last order of business before I left each morning was having "Mr. Dithers" scream and yell about what I SHOULD have done at 2AM. If we held the local to switch more cars into it, he blew a fuse because it was late leaving the yard. If it got coupled, inspected and dispatched promptly, he would go ballistic because there were cars still in the receiving yard which could have gone on the train. And many other similar stories. I'm sure the Q didn't have any guys like that ;) but other roads sure did!
I love these stories about how things were done "back in the day"...ie "The engineer brought the train into the station just like he would have had he been up front" I'll bet that old hoghead didn't have to call "management" to find out what to do in that situation..He just went ahead and did it, because he knew he could and because it was the right thing. I always...at least I think it was always...tried to get any employees under my supervision to "DO SOMETHING..even if it's wrong"...Today they might do something utterly stupid, but there was a time when most people had common sense.. I even tried to get my children to perform that way also..
My dad said...'Don't just stand around with your thumb up your ......." Do something.
Pete
-----Original Message-----
From: Walter Ohrnell
wohrnell@kc.rr.com [CBQ]
<CBQ@yahoogroups.com>
To: CBQ
<CBQ@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Fri, Jan 12, 2018 8:44 pm
Subject: [CBQ] Re: Elephant Style Es
Ed,
There is photo evidence that running elephant started before 1965.
Bill Hirt eluded to a story I have told. I was an operator working in Burlington, IA. This incident occurred in late 1963 or 1964 the California Zephyr arrived in town. The lead unit was followed by two units running backwards elephant style. There was a control problem on the lead unit. When the train arrived the engineer was running the train from the second unit. The fireman was left in the lead unit to call signals. The engineer brought the train into the station just like he would have had he been up front. I can only guess the lead unit was replaced upon arrival in Galesburg.
Lenny Ohrnell
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