Don't ask me why these stories pop into my head as I can't explain.
It was January 1973, yes on the BN, but it's still a Q story. I was a newly
minted brakeman with all the "extensive training" of time period. Three student
trips, one on the Irish Mail, one at Eola yard and a third that escapes my
memory or simply got eliminated.
At any rate I'm now the head brakeman on a westbound freight in the siding at
Burke,IL meeting an eastbound crawling its way up the hill from Savanna. After
the eastbounder clears the "DS" comes on the radio and says to us he can't get
the west switch at Burke to operate. So he continues "it's OK operate the west
switch at Burke on manual per Rule xyz and restore the switch to power per the
rule". As a fully qualified brakeman with two, maybe three student trips and
without any review or testing on the Consolidated Code of Operating Rules, I
had not the slightest idea what he was talking about and so informed the very
senior engineer.
This engineer, Ray, also know as "Velvet" for his train handling skills advised
the "DS" that this would take a little time as he had to show the "new man" how
to perform this task. In his wingtips Ray walked up in the snow with me to the
switch, no I'm not exaggerating ,explained and showed me how to take the switch
off power, throw that massive mainline switch and stressed how to put it back
on power once the lead motor was on the switch.
I don't remember if it was this trip or others that Ray was beside himself
explaining how he ran trains on this track at 100 MPH that now were covered
with 40 MPH slow orders and was really beside himself as to far things had
decayed. Clearly he was among many of the most senior Aurora Division employees
who never thought the glory days of Zephyrs, high speed extras and specials
would ever disappear.
I don't have an engineers seniority list handy but my recollection is Ray's
seniority date was from from the early 1930s. He also once shared he actually
started on the Q on the section gang at Streator,IL explaining to me why only a
few ties were changed out at time vs several in a row.
Leo
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