NYC fans, I got an email from a man asking about a wreck that happened on April 26, 1941, in Chesterton, IN. Happened at Calumet street and took out guard shack there. The man sent this photo, and to me it looks like a Mohawk, as he said it was a freight. LEW, you ran in IN, but on a different Division, this was the Western Division between Elkhart and Chicago. Roger, any knowledge of this? Thanks for any info you can provide. For some reason, this software will not allow me to upload this photo he sent. It came as a PNG and I downsized it and saved as JPG, but it won't load.
If the engine was on its side on the street I might know a little of the story. I worked with the 3rd pin on a train coming off the MC from Gibson that upset on the crossing. "Mick" Hackman said they were running on the Eastbound siding between Porter and Chesterton and they didn't realize that they were not on the main. The engine crew were discussing if they could get up enough speed to scoop water or if they should stop and plug it, when they hit the derail. Mick was sitting on a scoop shovel, jumped up and bailed off, took off running for his life, as he had heard so much about boiler explosions. He said he rounded the curve in the street to the north and stopped by the ice plant, hearing no blast, he ambled back and saw people frantically digging in the coal, searching for the missing brakeman. The biggest exaggeration that might be in his story is that he ran, as he was the slowest mover on the west end.
Thanks for the explanation, also the delightful tale about "Mick". Please explain "3rd pin", I've never heard it. Thanks
In the "good old days" Indiana had a law requiring a 3rd brakeman on all trains of 69 cars or more. The term of "pin" refers to a brakeman, probably not in general use, but common on the NYC west end. He usually rode the head end and did the work of setting out and picking up cars and dropping off to inspect the train in case of smoke from a car or a detector message. On a steam or A-B lash-up he would sit on a shovel or a bucket with some waste or rags for a cushion, if the train had no work sometimes a good hearted conductor might let you ride the caboose. That didn't happen with any regularity as most of them felt an extra board man was of a level of something stuck to the bottom of their shoe.
this is something that bothered me a bit when I was still working. The attitude that some "old heads' had that extra board guys were lower than low. They seemed to have forgotten that when they started, they rode the extra board for a while too. Probably longer than they would have liked. On the BNSF, there are a couple of extra boards(ie engineer)that guys with decent seniority like to hold. On the extra board you stand a 50/50 chance of getting a good payer v. owning a lower paying regular job. The conductor's boards are like that too. The drawback is not knowing when or how often you will work. A regular job gives one some regularity in life which for me was more desirable. Charlie
Love the part of how it was. Some of those old conductors were just mean, but most mellowed as the years went by. Rabbit season came, shoot dinner the brakeman who did the cooking dressed rabbit ,crew except extra man brakeman fireman or what goes to the cab to eat, extra man goes to beanery. Next trip same extra man is assigned to job now he can eat in cab with rest of crew. You want to get on cab after trip : you bang on side of cab and ask come in , conductor says make sure your shoes are clean, come in. If he says not now you don't go in. Engineer heads in siding, conductor walks over . Ask the engineer why he did not go to next siding, talk turns to action conductor kicks engineer ,who is sitting down , breaks engr. ribs. Conductors I knew never expected a new man to do more then he knew . If he told conductor no or was lazy conductor called trainmaster wanted a new man . No questions asked a new man was sent. As the younger men came on the jobs their way of looking at their job changed both engineer and conductor. LEW
Thanks, Oldblue, Charlie, and LEW for your experiences. I think I missed out on a rail career. Doggone airplanes instead.
Not much to miss out on. Unless you like never being at home for family events, Never having the least idea when that phone was going to ring, walking your train that went in "the big hole" carrying a wrench, hose, wire, lantern, and radio in rain, snow, heat, sub zero, with drivers in cars blowing horns, cursing you, for not cutting a crossing. Having every move you make second guessed by some idiot who never worked at anything but hiding in the weeds trying to catch you by issuing orders without com on them. My pardon to LEW enginemen who seemed unable to keep a train close to the speed limit and who liked to get as close to running a red signal as possible. Working with and people who depended of the rest of the crew to take care of them day in and day out. I could go on and on about hardships of working on the railroad, but I have rambled on to long and will close with I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT AND WOULDN'T HAVE TRADED MY LIFE FOR ANY OTHER.
