R L Moore fireman date 12-16-45 engr date 7-19-55
> On Aug 29, 2018, at 7:14 PM, Leo Phillipp via Groups.Io
> <qutlx1=aol.com@groups.io> wrote:
>
> 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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