Any Railroaders out there?

George McLellan · Post by **George McLellan** » 2 Dec 2006 7:59 am

I worked with the Rail Dept in the mine I retired from. I sure don't miss the "camel backs". My son is a conducter with the BN out of Superior, WI.

Geo

Gary Schuldt · Post by **Gary Schuldt** » 2 Dec 2006 2:32 pm

My Dad worked for NY Central,Penn central,then Conrail before he retired after 31 years.He had many different jobs over the years,working with the track crews.He also was heavy eqip.operator.I can remember the phone ringing in the middle of the night,Dad would be called out to a wreck.He loved his job.Back then it was hard work.Hot and dirty in the summer,and bone chilling in the winter.He never missed one day of work in 31 years except for a few rail strikes in the sixties.My fondest childhood memories were riding the trains as a kid.For being an employee he received passes for the family.We could ride anywhere the NY Central line ran.I think it was from NY to Chicago or south to Virgina.Dad was also a weekend warrior musician.That's where i learned to play.But he had a real passion for the railroad.
May God Rest His Soul.

Greg Simmons · Post by **Greg Simmons** » 10 Feb 2007 11:34 am

CN Conductors and Yardmen (UTU Canada) have hit the bricks - the vote in favour of strike was over 96%.

CN's profits for 2006 were up 34% and the company still wants concessions, i.e. eliminate rest clauses, yard/road demarc, meal breaks and the like.

Apparently management "will assure freight service across Canada", according to CN CEO Hunter Harrison, ex-Illinois Central car knocker ...well, good luck with that, and in the meantine, be afraid, be very afraid.

As we like to say..."they run the railroad, but we run the trains"

Tiny Olson · Post by **Tiny Olson** » 10 Feb 2007 12:17 pm

I'm just a die-hard, lifelong railfan as of now... right Red ?!?!

While I toured with Gene Watson (and others) I was also the tour bus driver as extra duty to playing steel guitar. I would take photos of trains from the driver's seat, detour or pull off the road to watch trains. One time the guys woke up on the bus wondering where they were only to discover they were parked in the Frisco yard in Springfield MO. and I was up in the tower with the night yardmaster.

When I left the road musically in the late 80s I hired on as a conductor with Metro-North then later Amtrak for about 16 mos. in total. Once I got to run an FL-9 up the Hudson Line at 80 mph !! Family reasons made me leave the railroad but I'm still a HUGE fan.

My hat is off to you career railroaders. Most folks simply do not realize just how tough the hours can be and how important a job you have in keeping this continent moving.

I wish for clear signal aspects/indications for all of you.

Sincerely,
Chris "Tiny" Olson

Greg Simmons · Post by **Greg Simmons** » 10 Feb 2007 12:28 pm

only to discover they were parked in the Frisco yard in Springfield MO. and I was up in the tower with the night yardmaster.

Tiny , that is hardcore, and very cool

It's pics like this that make me feel all warm inside (like ya wanna laugh and cry at the same time; like hearing some good steel guitar pickin')...from April 25 1960, and CN 6043 was the power for passenger train 76 from The Pas to Winnipeg Manitoba, seen here heading south from Union Station in Winnipeg across the Assiniboine River - the last time that a steam locomotive was used for a scheduled passenger train on CN.

A. J. Schobert · Post by **A. J. Schobert** » 10 Feb 2007 2:42 pm

Hey Greg keep that bumper sticker "the nation's railroads they use us and abuse us" out ! Man I hope you guys can fight that off as it gets tougher. Hey greg I want to ask you a rumor we have flying around in cincy, (queensgate yard) the new BLE agrrement for CN will allow engineers to go on held-away perminatly after so many hours (normaly 16) is this true? I personally don't buy it.

Ron Bryson · Post by **Ron Bryson** » 10 Feb 2007 5:07 pm

I run my own...
N-scale to 1:1
This is a 1.5" scale live steam locomotive, at Columbia, Tn. water tank. Yeah, it burns coal. I have to be the engineer, and fireman.

Bob Simmons · Post by **Bob Simmons** » 10 Feb 2007 7:37 pm

I'm a retired aviator and build steels, but I come from a long line of RR family. My mother retired 32 years as chief dispatcher with the Erie and Erie Lackawanna. As a youngen she would sneak me in her switch tower where she had to throw those big ole manual switch bars. I now have a 20 by 50 ft O gauge model railroad - still have my first ever set from 1949! Owned a model train/music/steel guitar store til 9-11

John De Maille · Post by **John De Maille** » 10 Feb 2007 9:29 pm

I've always loved trains. Applied for a job, here locally with the LIRR, but was turned down because I'm color blind ( red/green ), or so they say. ( I have no trouble with traffic lights ) I have an 8' X 10' L shaped HO layout in my basement. I modeled it after the U & D RR by my house in upstate NY. It's a double reverse loop with 150' of track. I can run 2 trains at a time, comfortably on it.
I've made friends with the engineer of the excursion line of the U&D RR, by my house and have ridden in the cab of the Alco RS-36, many times. I guess I'm really just an old kid at heart.

Kelly Hydorn · Post by **Kelly Hydorn** » 10 Feb 2007 9:54 pm

I'm not a railroader but I live next door to an engineer for BNSF and I have been railroaded a couple of times, does that qualify?

Bernie Liebe · Post by **Bernie Liebe** » 11 Feb 2007 3:37 am

Bernie Liebe
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, jacket, kromer, choppers, steel toe Red Wings, bibs, long johns, longer johns 'n other carry on wardrobe ta prove it! Yes, you wear it all at the same time in the North country railroad territories. That's why I'm a late bloomer in steelin'! Owned early 70's Fender 3/1 for twentyfive years, never had time to learn to pick it & it was too big to fit in my grip on the road. Miss the beautiful America rural countryside unseen by most other folks goin' down the highways in northern Wisconsin. Conductor Brakeman- SOO, Lake States, WC, retired as CN took over. Too many nights & weekend trips to play gigs anyway. Now that I've got the time & a beautiful Blue Carter to learn to play, the excess wear & tear on a X-railroaders hands from now frequent visits from the ...itises don't help dexterity at all. Just plain happy not to have to go out these -35 windchill nights anymore! I'm a-pickin' and I'm a-grinnin' at my Carter now but when the warmer weather comes around again, I'll miss the lonesome whistle in the dead of the night goin' thru Ogema, Stone Lake, Whitefeather Curve, Withee, Marengo, Chittamo and on & on thru the night. Proud to have been a "rail" and continue building this Great US of A. God Bless!

Joe Rouse · Post by **Joe Rouse** » 11 Feb 2007 5:49 am

As a newbie on the forum and with the PSG, I feel that I can add some wisdom to this topic. My wisdom may also be termed BS. I worked for the S.P. Railroad all over Texas and had a great career, from 1972 til 2001 when I was bad ordered, or to other than rails, had to retire account of health problems.
D&RGW bought the Sp in the late 1980s and then about 10 years later the UP bought the D&RGW/SPRR and all went to the Hell side of a career. I had 29 1/2 years in retirement, and am happy to be away from the UP, but still miss the comeraderie. Most were great people, but no matter how great the people you work with are, the poor management will ruin the job. UPRR
ruined a great job for me.One of the greatest days of my life was being hired on the SP and then 18 mos. later promoted to engineer. Now I check my bank account the first of each month, enjoy the grandkids, do some saddle repair, and pick at my Carter Starter. Been there, done that, got the cap, video, and bruises from the UPRR...jr

Lee Baucum · Post by **Lee Baucum** » 11 Feb 2007 11:43 am

I'm the grandson of a railroader. My grandfather (Dad's Dad) worked for Missouri Pacific and moved his family to South Texas in about 1927 or so. He actually helped lay the track. Does that count?

Greg Simmons · Post by **Greg Simmons** » 11 Feb 2007 12:09 pm

My grandfather (Dad's Dad) worked for Missouri Pacific and moved his family to South Texas in about 1927 or so. He actually helped lay the track. Does that count?

dang tootin' it does

"My Grandaddy was a railroad man
When I was young he took me by the hand
Dragged me to the station at the break of dawn
Said "boy I got to show you somethin' 'fore it's gone"
She was blue and silver - she was right on time
We rode that Texas Eagle on the MoPac line"
Texas Eagle by Steve Earle

Joe Rouse · Post by **Joe Rouse** » 11 Feb 2007 12:17 pm

I would say yes. Misery Pacific was also a pretty good place to work until the UPRR bought them.
Railroads are like any big business today. They want expendable employees that have no benefits and no rights. Toyota has a new plant in San Antonio, building Tundra trucks. They pay their employees a decent wage, good healthcare, good working conditions. Great job for people that want to work. And the employees are really into doing a good job. I wonder what happened to the companies that treated their workers good here in America.
The railroad industry is not trying to make a better work environment for the road crews, track people, or even their management. Safety is not a way of life for the management, but it is for the people working like I did. The most important thing a front line manager can do is make a good bonus at the end of the year. It disgusts me so much I think I'll practice my Carter Starter and make Panhandle Rag sound like Nearer My God To Thee...Joe Rouse

Greg Simmons · Post by **Greg Simmons** » 11 Feb 2007 1:01 pm

Safety is not a way of life for the management, but it is for the people working like I did.

You nailed it Joe...there was just a documentary on TV last night here in Canada regarding current CN "Safety"; 2 train crew were killed in June 2006 after a runaway, no dynamic brakes on a 144 car train, in mountainous territory...in one instance they let go a Track Maintainer with 29 years of service; he recommended in a letter to mgmt. some rail replacement starting at mile 69 of a certain Sub in Ontario...a year or so after his letter to mgmt. - ignored of course - a train derailed, at, you guessed it, mile 69.8, 200 tons of suphuric acid in the ditch, etc...

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/s ... ?hub=WFive

"In 2005, CN had an astonishing 103 main-track derailments in communities across Canada. That's an average of one derailment every three-and-a-half days."

maybe CN now stands for Crash National

I took a buyout from CN in '92 when I was 30 - I almost need more than all the fingers on both hands to count the number of friends/co-workers who booked on for duty and never came home...it is a disgrace to their memories that things have not improved, and are actually getting worse...but don't get me started

George McLellan · Post by **George McLellan** » 11 Feb 2007 2:53 pm

I shudder when I read the signs warning that locomotives are being opperated by remote control. They're trying to do away with engineers by using remotes and it's not working out too well here in the cold northland. They used that system in the mine I worked for and I've seen what a runaway can do.
Geo

Joe Rouse · Post by **Joe Rouse** » 11 Feb 2007 3:59 pm

I appreciateyou both and what you've said. I worked for 2 different law firms here in Texas that represented railroaders personal injuries, caused on the job. That type of law is called Federal Employees Liability Act. This is a federal law passed in 1914 to provide the railroad man and carrier an avenue to settle these injuries. I had to retire before I knew my rights under FELA. I then spent 4 years working for attorneys to go about the state informing the rails of their rights by law.
San Antonio has had too many derailments in the past 5 years, one with 3 fatalities. Chlorine tank burst open, conductor and 2 civilians passed on that one. Too bad the managers that sent that UP crew out didn't go to jail.The UP management sent the train out that was made up wrong, and violated the rules of train makeup. Thank God for retirement and a life without having to wait for the phone to ring. I still wake up at times wondering if I missed a call...jr

Gaylon Mathews · Post by **Gaylon Mathews** » 11 Feb 2007 4:14 pm

Not a railroader but a big fan. I live near the old L&N "Hook & Eye" line in north Georgia. Now owned by the Georgia Northeastern RR. I have taken lots of photographs and done a lot of train watching on the GNRR, CSX and NS around these parts. While touring with Gretchen, I spend a lot of time looking out the bus window watching for trains. I haven't seen a train with a caboose in 20 years or more until last week while passing through New Mexico. I saw a BNSF with 2 engines, about 20 mixed freight cars and a caboose on a siding east of Albuquerque. Does anyone have any photos to share via email? I'd like to see some old L&N stuff if anyone has any.
here's one of the GNRR in the Tate yard

Joe Rouse · Post by **Joe Rouse** » 12 Feb 2007 3:14 am

Greg,
You probably saw a local doing online switching between Clovis N.M. and Belen N.M. if you were traveling east to west. That area is what they call the Transcon. Double track and high speed. BNSF runs faster uphill than we ran downhill in the area I worked. BNSF ran trains and the UPRR ran grinders,rather average 25 mph than 55 mph start to stop.
Rest rules, away from home time, never knowing when your work day will begin, are all drawbacks of the job. Now the carriers don't want the new employees to have sufficient training to do a safe job.
Remote control accidents are too numerous. A conductor I worked with several times was run over by the remote control engine he was operating,at night , and he was the only man on the crew to show up on time because of crew caller failure.Left a widow and 2 children from a prior marriage. No reason for it. Please unders tand these are my opinions after being a fireman and engineer for 29 1/2 years...jr God Bless retirement

Chris L. Christensen · Post by **Chris L. Christensen** » 12 Feb 2007 1:41 pm

My father worked for the Union Pacific for many years starting in 1951 when they still had steam engines and first class passenger trains. I've been a railroad buff my whole life and I'm happy to see that railroads are not only still around in the 21st century but thriving. I wish we had a passenger rail system comparable to Europe and were not so chained to and dependent on the automobile. Nothing other form of transportation: cars, planes, boats, etc., has inspired the romance and anywhere near the amount of songs in virtually every musical genre that railroads have.

admin · Post by **b0b** » 12 Feb 2007 1:57 pm

My Dad worked the Union Railroad switchyard in East Pittsburgh when I was a kid. He worked harder than I ever did.

Myself, I'm more of a traction fan, but I do enjoy riding the old narrow gauge steam tours in various parts of the country.

Joe Rouse · Post by **Joe Rouse** » 12 Feb 2007 3:00 pm

My Dad was an Engineer on the SP Railroad for 42 years, loved the job and loved the company he worked for. He would roll in his grave if he were to see what has happened to those jobs. He too was a fireman in the steam engine days, and was promoted on a steam engine.
I rode the passenger train from El Paso, Tx to Carrizozo, N.M. when I was about 5 or 6. My mother, sister and I went on the passenger train that Dad was the fireman. Of course I don't remember a great deal about it, we all stayed at a motel and got called really early in the morning and I rode the head end with Dad and the engineer from Carrizozo back to El Paso.I regret sleeping most of the way.
Amtrak is a good way to travel if you can make your connections. Most railroads treat them like the plague and won't help them make schedule..thereby the trains are late and don't make connections and you either ride a bus, or fly...jr

GaryL · Post by **GaryL** » 12 Feb 2007 3:36 pm

Spent a summer as a brakeman for the long gone Erie-Lackawanna Railway Co. Akron Yard, Marion Division, around 1972. Most enjoyable job I ever had, probably because I never had to do it in the Winter!

A. J. Schobert · Post by **A. J. Schobert** » 12 Feb 2007 4:21 pm

Gaylon we still us caboosees everyday, just in local jobs, when the EOT came out (and power switchs) they hit the road along with 2-3 jobs.

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