According to what I was told by my father and Mr. Starjack a buck was hung from a point on the tender or on the end of the plate that covered the stoker and was used along with toilet paper that was kept in a toolbox under the fireman's seat. "It" was generally
thrown out when the they slowed for a trestle or curve in the country. The bucket was then washed out with steam.
Edward V. Carroll
Distinguished Professor of History
Heartland Community College
1500 West Raab Road
Normal IL 61761
309.268.8582
ed.carroll@heartland.edu
_____________________
Understanding the past requires pretending that you don't know the present.
Paul Fussell
From: CBQ@groups.io <CBQ@groups.io> on behalf of Louis Zadnichek via Groups.Io <LZadnichek=aol.com@groups.io>
Sent: Saturday, November 2, 2019 10:06 AM
To: CBQ@groups.io <CBQ@groups.io>
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Aurora coal chute 1868
November 2, 2019
Pete - Back in steam engine days, what did the engineer. fireman and head end brakeman do when they had to use the bathroom when their train was moving since toilets were
unheard of in steam engine cabs? I can see where they could stand in the gangway when the need arose and take a whiz (so to say), but what about if they got a bad plate of food at the last lunch room and Montezuma's revenge took hold ? What then? They just
couldn't stop their train to hike off into the bushes..... I've always wondered about this never discussed facet of railroading in the good ole days...... Please enlighten us - Louis
Louis Zadnichek II
Fairhope, AL
In a message dated 11/1/2019 11:02:15 PM Central Standard Time, jpslhedgpeth=aol.com@groups.io writes:
Yes indeed Mike..THE NOSE was a location I never frequented while "in motion"...It was always my first duty when going "on duty" as head brakeman. You always had to go "down in the nose" to see if you had the required
eqipment..ie flags, lantern, torpedoes, blocks, chain, spare knuckle etc. It was..as you or anybody who had occasion to frequent said location not a pleasant place to be. IIRC there was a toilet down there, which I never saw anyone make use of it...including
me..however there was always evidence that it had been used and...it was not cleaned "frequently" which was immediately obvious when you opened the door to make your initial descent.
Pete
-----Original Message-----
From: Mike Decker <mdecker@gwtc.net>
To: CBQ <CBQ@groups.io>
Sent: Fri, Nov 1, 2019 2:25 pm
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Aurora coal chute 1868
Yup, Pete, I learned that one early, and when the helper crew 'drifted' their motors through the crossover into the side of a train loading at Belle Ayr, the Engineer was 'down in the nose'. I don't remember what the Brakeman's excuse was.
Thanks, Hol, for the clarification on the location. The part I remembered particularly was the fireman
who'd jumped excuse,
Mike
Note: Email to or from Heartland Community College employees may be subject to disclosure under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act. This communication is the property of Heartland Community College and is intended only for use by the recipient identified.
If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender and delete the original communication. Any distribution or copying of this message without the College’s prior consent is prohibited.
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