Velvet was Emsinger (spelling?). Leo, speaking of the old smooth-touch, you
hear about the time he sent Rip from one of way car to the other? I believe
Ripetto was in his "Savanna night out" best. I think that might be where the
"velvet" nickname was aquired. Or maybe not. Heard that story like 45 years ago.
Doug
Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network.
Original Message
From: Dave Weber
Sent: Thursday, August 30, 2018 9:38 AM
To: CBQ@groups.io
Reply To: CBQ@groups.io
Subject: Re: [CBQ] New Man
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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