As a relative newcomer to message boards, maybe I'm missing something...but it seems to me that amid all the vast information posted every day, there are almost no people. You can find out nearly anything about any locomotive, car or track in the world if you look hard enough, but what makes the job interesting is the people. Not to belittle any of the amazing stuff that's out there, the pics and info are great, but where is the crew that let you up in the cab when you were a kid, or your grouchy old head conductor who terrorized your first trip, then showed you everything you needed to know, or the engineer that taught you how to power brake - with or without screaming and cussing. And who was with you when you lugged your first knuckle, or stalled on a mountain, or made that one-in-a-million perfect trip. My wife tells me I work with a very 'colorful' bunch(to put it mildly)and they all have stories to tell. How about spinning your best tale, even if you have to change the names to protect the guilty. ------------------ Rock & Roll all night!
I totally agree!! I love railroaders tales What is normal workaday happenings to a railroader, is mighty interseting to us 'outsiders' ------------------ Alan The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale! www.ac-models.com Andersley Western Railroad Alan's American Gallery
I used to post a few messages on here about my old railroad tales. I'll gladly share my stories and enjoy doing so, but because I was one of the few that was open about it, I stopped. If you are newly interested in this, email me at the address below. Talk to you later. Take care Dave NSBrakeman@aol.com ------------------ NS "We need more SD40s!!!" Brakeman
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by NSBrakeman: I used to post a few messages on here about my old railroad tales.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE> And as a reader of such lore, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed that. Has anyone read the book Frisco Folks? It is just a little paperback book that was reprinted a couple of years ago. It is full of interesting stories and is one of those books that sucks you right in and tells tales of days gone by. I would love to see more of that. Maybe we need to resurrect that other thread. Charlie ------------------ Ship It On The FRISCO! | IAMOKA.com
Ok-somebody break the ice and have at it. Don't make me tell Lehigh stories... ------------------ Rock & Roll all night!
I tried to get "Stories from the Rails" going on another site, but was 'admonished by the webMASTER, that no one was interested in things that happened back in the steam engine days. Today is the Diesel Big Mac 70 days. Besides the stories I could tell, you wouldn't believe anyway. I would like to read yours though. ------------------ Watash
Rule 281 - do tell. watash - no such admonishment will be forthcoming here. Please indulge us. Charlie ------------------ Ship It On The FRISCO! | IAMOKA.com
Did I ever tell about the 2 mph limit? Old (*) the engineer asked if I wanted to crack a pecan (nut) for him? I said; "Sure"! He said for me to follow him and he would show me how to do it right, and if I didn't move, he would let me crack the next one. He had me hold the pecan against the coupler knuckle of a car some ten feet behind the engine, telling me to stand to one side of the coupler, then he went back to the engine. The fireman was watching all this, and asked me what I was doing. I told him. He said, "No, you are learning how to couple onto a car correctly." Mean while the engine had pulled ahead about 100 feet and stopped. Then the engine started back toward us getting faster and faster! The engineer suddenly stopped setting down on the whistle! The engine was about 20 feet from the car, I was across the yard, the fireman was rolling with laughter! Old engineer calmly walked over and told me to remember, anything up to 2 miles per hour is a couple, but 4 miles per hour was a wreck. "Wheres my pecan?", he wanted to know. He said I had learned three lessons for sure. One was not to stand between cars when a couple is being made, not to crack pecans between couplers, and that when coupling, the slower the better. I never forgot, and I never found his pecan either. Both of them would laugh their heads off every time he would ask me, "where's my pecan"!!. That was on the Darlington, Kensit & Searcy RR 1944 WW II ------------------ Watash [This message has been edited by watash (edited 24 September 2000).]
Well, I 'broke the ice' with a nice story, no blood, hair, and eyeballs, just a joke on me when young. Now tell me a Lehigh story, its your turn. When you started to worked in the roundhouse did anyone ever send you to get them a left handed Stillson wrench, or a half inch lag screw nut? Well, ole Watash wasn't borm yesterday, and I still got all my fingers, and five teeth. I'll tell about the run away next time. Out- ------------------ Watash
Thanks for the story, Watash. I will think about it when I am eating nuts!! I think there are the 'go fetch a left-handed . . . ' etc. in any trade. We had the same thing in the print trade years ago We also asked a lad to go for a 'long wait' He did, and stood there until asked if he had waited long enough yet ------------------ Alan The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale! www.ac-models.com Andersley Western Railroad Alan's American Gallery
Athough not rail related i thought I'd share this story with you. My young nephew was recently doing work experience when one of the trademen sent him to his boss to get a 9 inch population tool lol. I can tell you of times I have told the apprentice that the white lever of a large interlocking frame was the sand lever(the white lever means a spare lever) ------------------ Paul Cassar-# Member number 50 ICQ 61198217 http://users.bigpond.net.au/railroad2000
I heard about "go get a population punch, and sharpen it". I was told to go hold "that" empty flat car so it wouldn't blow over when the express came through. (I kept it on the ground until the express had passed, too!) How was I to know, don't confuse me I'm a new 'man' Did you know that if you use a table knife and place a penny tightly between the front side of each driver and the rail, that a steam engine can not move foreward? It can not generate enough power to raise its own weight. True, I tried it. Got severiely repremanded too! I'm not sure if this is true of diesels, and I'm not about to try it! ------------------ Watash
An engineer and fireman were riding to work together one morning. They were struck broadside by another car that ran a red light. The impact drove their car across the street and into a light pole. The fireman ended up on the engineers lap with their noses only an inch apart. Then fireman said, "Here I was with broken bones, bleeding and hurting like hell, when the engineer said the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life". He said, "THAT WILL DO"! ------------------ Engineer, Elgin Joliet and Eastern Railway
I didn't forget you guys. I got bumped to the extra list and suddenly don't have a life. I promise if I get a couple of minutes in a row when I'm not sleeping or getting called, I'll spin a couple. Later
You don't worry about us, Rule281, you get some sleep, run safe and alert! That borders on a storey I remember. When you get time, tell me if running extra today, is still running in addition to- or has the 'guvment' allowed us some sleep between regardless? JUST YOU RUN SAFE, HEAR!!! ------------------ Watash
OK NSBrakeman, its your turn, while we wait on Rule281, tell us a tale. I just got to hear about something from the cab, the rails, even the weeds along the ballast! GIVE!! I'll put the can on and make some hobo coffee, there's slumgullian already hot! GO for it! ------------------ Watash
Shortly after I hired out on the CSS I was on a collectors run with an engineer and conductor who did not speak to each other and the conductor would make nasty comments behind the engineers back. He told me the story of how he and this engineer(who was working as a brakeman at the time were switching cars out of a track. The conductor gave him a handsign telling him he wanted to "kick" one car. This sign is made by making two fists and tapping one on top of the other. One tap, one car, two taps, two cars,etc.... The brakeman repeated the sign to show he understood. the conductor then signaled the engineer to give em' a kick. when sufficient speed was attained the conductor signalled for a stop which should have produced a free rolling car. But the car was still on the end of the cut. Sometimes a pin will fall after it has been pulled so the conductor assuming this repeated the "kick one" sign which the brakie acknowledged and the procedure was repeated. Again, after movement had stopped the car was still coupled to the end of the switch cut. The conductor then asked the brakeman if he understood that he wanted one car to be kicked to which the brakeman replied, "Yes, but you didn't say which car you wanted kicked."
Hey, AFN, I can emagine what the engineer felt like after having been drug along by those cars too. Ha! I would love to have a movie of that. ------------------ Watash
When I hired out as a brakeman, I used to love to get called out on a local that went past my parents house. My dad took a picture of me and the engineer looking out the firemans window. The engineer has passed away, the engine we were on has been scrapped, the WP is history and now I'm an engineer. One trip I was called as the rear brakeman on this local, which meant I rode the caboose. We stopped the train next to my parents house and took part of it to the local interchange. I was left with the train to keep kids off the caboose. Well my dad brought my sister by and she came up on the caboose to have a look around. Her comment was, "now I know why you come home smelling the way you do." Those were the days. hogger
Yep, those were the days, and I sure miss them! There was a 2-8-2 that had just been serviced out for the road, that was run out onto a holding track and 'parked'. At ElReno, Okla. roundhouse, it was common practise to set the Johnson bar centered when steam was up, but not always set the engine brakes, if just parked for a short time. A road diesel came in, cut loose, and that crew left. A caboose was just ahead of the 2-8-2, some how the caboose got bumped, or rolled back and coupled onto the 2-8-2. The new crew for the 2-8-2 checked it over, blew out the cylinders etc. The engineer sent the fireman to find out if the caboose was theirs. No, it was to go with the diesel. The 2-8-2 crew pushed the caboose up and coupled it to the diesel, pulled the release lever to cut loose, but didn't back up. (They said).The diesel crew got in, and started forward at the same time the 2-8-2 crew were getting ready to back down to get their caboose. The 2-8-2 dragged the diesel quite a ways, before discovering they were dragging the diesel! That's as short as I could make that story, but faces were red! (I think it was no accident). Ha. ------------------ Watash
