Entries 401
Page 10 of 17
A Troubleshooting incident BNSF Coal train Littleton, CO
One I vividly remember.. It was in the last 6 months of my career. I was working the night rotation. I got LISS, up and signed onto the email and rest of the Emulators. Was able to settle in ...
My time on the railroad is nearing it’s end. September 5th 2012, will soon be here. I am working the night rotation. I am having a pretty easy night, and the mechanical guy I am working wit...
Sedalia Turn The older days 1978
I liked the Sedalia Turn, it was picking up and switching out. We usually got a GP-38 or a worn out GP-20. Sometimes.. an old C&S SD-9. Logistics on how the ATSF and the C&S worked t...
I took my son to work. He can’t drive due to Epilepsy and other issues. I think he’s finally getting his head “out”. He stays with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Snow has been in the foreca...
Corridor mentor Job Stuff, Flood reroutes summer 2011
I got up at 530 am. Cup of coffee, and logged into the mainframe from home. I look in TRNBRO,( train browse) for an inbound look coming into Denver from the south. What is called or going to be ...
Cal Jewel machinist Air Shop Denver 23rd St Roundhouse
I was with Cal that day, why because he was the air man at the shop, and it was my turn to break in with him. Calvin Jewel, he was also the Local Chairman for the Machinist union and oversaw, al...
Sun Kink MP 59.3 single track between Monument and Academy, CO
We are single track now, Between Palmer Lake and Crews. This is CTC operation, mostly Rio Grande track owned till, mid siding, at Kelker, then was Santa Fe track from MP 659.9 (old Santa Fe) cu...
1986 Big Lift Local Englewood,CO Windemere Ave
This came to me today. Why? because I was driving around this area. I had to deliver a form to one of my sons, and it needed to be signed. We used to switch industries here, before lite rail and ...
Broken Rail Aequia on the northbound mainline, 1979
We are coming into Acequia Siding on the northbound main line, with a coal empty. The crew was Bob Morley Conductor, Charlie Westfall, rear brakeman and Jimmy Cross was the head brakeman. I wa...
Broken rails, compromised track, and other tales Part 2
I may have mentioned this in another entry, but the Railroads are required to ride the track every day for inspection. Maybe more, if a problem shows. An example would be a RED signal, with no ...
Broken rails, compromised track, and other tales Part 1
Derailments, they are costly, not only to the railroad, but to the towns and cities they provide service to. As a retired railroad locomotive engineer, and a former Company officer, it has neve...
Santa Fe train 424 Leased power
During the early times, with my career on the Santa Fe and the Joint Line, there were business and economic changes . There was a time when I was barely hanging on, as a railroad fireman. I was...
Adam Traudt Machinist and the Vapor Clarkson Steam Generators
We still worked the passenger units as needed or requested. I was going through the tops. The pipe fitters were draining the steam generators and ready to clean the scale out of the pipes. This ...
J-SLE The runaway coal train Part 2
The Caboose was attached and the air cut in. The false brake pipe showed 75 on the rear, which was legal. I doubt the engineer, felt that this was okay, when they were running around the Caboos...
J-SLE The runaway coal train
I wasn’t involved in this, and I wasn’t on this train. I was called to shove up a train, and we were held at Sedalia, Co on the southbound. We had instructions, not to proceed past MP 24.5 via...
Russell Heath Part 2
Dahkerry’s and the Ba’Haymas: As I wrote at the start, Russell liked motorcycles. He rode with another engineer, Bill Butler. Bill was the engineer on the 1st Beer Run on the C&S, out of D...
Russell Heath Engineer... A couple memories in the early to late 70's
Russell was a one of a kind. He was a decent engineer, but his downfall was that most of the people he worked with, he was hateful, resentful, disagreeable, and a general unpleasant person . I b...
Marti
I was working a local, by choice, and our Conductor marked off the trip. It was a Wednesday, we have to go to the “Springs” , to switch the industries there. The brakeman, Pres Cordova, was ste...
The AA062 or the J-CCE, Comanche out of Denver
Ah the BN, pass it off to the next crew, just get it out of “our” terminal. Plus were were Santa Fe, and then hey it’s okay. We get called for a load, yeah no big deal its a load. We have a Ca...
The new trainmaster Pueblo yard 2009
Wow… they are getting young. They also are clueless, and if they don’t get their asses chewed out by upper Division management, or the crews can have their way with them, you can see the frustrat...
Railroad stuff that happened How Engineers were paid and related tales.
When I hired out, the engine crews were paid on the basis of weight on drivers. I see the question “What is that?” You add up the weight of each locomotive in your consist, totaled up, and loo...
Frozen ... weather & Locomotives .. part two.
The load leaves, all is good or is it ? NOT. I am close to a 7/11, my dinner is cold. I go for a BIG Coffee, and the next best thing, “ROLLER FOOD”. A well done, over cooked, shriveled up Hot Dog...
Frozen ... weather & Locomotives part 1
As a troubleshooter,I was working again, another night rotation. At the time we traded off at the 31st Street yard office. We locked up the truck, we had valet keys, hid the ignition and the pho...
Ed Hamilton Santa Fe Engineer
I hired out in 1973, in engine service for the Santa Fe Railroad. I rounded out a forty year career till I retired in 2012. Yeah math doesn’t add up, but I had a year and a half with the BN, ...
Caboose hops WayCar lites... semantics
These were predominant in my early railroad career. Caboose hops were multi- functional at that time. They were reposition moves for Cabooses need at the terminal, locomotive reposition move...
Book Description
Tales of the Jointed Track
Railroading my career from September 15th,1972 thru September 5th. 2012
This is my first attempt of writing down my thoughts. I have been asked or have been suggested that I do by my Co-workers or others that know me. This will be about railroading throughout my career, first starting out in the Roundhouse and then changing railroads and going into engine service, which I finally retired from in September of 2012 forty years.
I hired out with the Burlington Northern in September of 1972. I was called by the General Roundhouse Foreman, one week before my hire date. “Do you still want this job”…”yes Sir” I told him. He said come down get physical papers , get that done see the clerk and you’ll be a Midnight Machinist helper. “Okay” I told him… I was working at a bakery for a major Grocery chain, in Denver at the time… also on midnights so not a big difference. I got up went to the Railroad physician and took my 5 minute physical. Returned to the shops and turned in the paperwork. “When can you start?”…I need to give notice and I will firm up with you. I gave my notice to the bakery and started a week later on nights ..
I introduced myself to the night Roundhouse Foreman.. Taylor Gregg....mid to late sixties …skinny as a rail…and always wore his hard hat cocked at at angle..and always started the night out at the coffee vending machine… ready to delegate the nights task. You’ll work with Sandy Ortiz .. we have a bunch of Goats that need Federal inspection and repair… ( a Goat is a slang term for a switch engine ) ..
I entered my midnight shift as a Machinist Helper, working with Sandy. He was Hispanic ..( didn’t care that he was ) and elderly, about early to mid sixties. He had terrible arthritis and shuffled when he walked… I always wondered why a man of his age, worked nights ? He had the seniority to work days, or really any shift he wanted. But as I continued to work for the railroad, there are those that prefer nights, Night Fighters they were called.
The Diesel shop had a Three stalls or tracks in the main shop… The old roundhouse stalls were west of that location but “did” join up… Line one was the running track for inbound inspection and minor maintained. After units were fueled, they came into line one, line one had another exit on the other end of the shop and the track extended out toward the depot. That track was the “Buck Main” that line one connected to. On line one units had cooling water added as needed, Lube oil, compressor oil, and someone went underneath and checked the Traction Motor suspension bearings for lubrication levels. Also the gear cases were looked at and “Crater Bags” were added as needed to provide lubrication to the gear cases. These were bags of heavy grease in a plastic casing that broke down after meshing with the pinion and spur gears. During the winter they were kept in a warm water bath to stay supple. I always said when these were hard you could kill someone with it…like a blackjack .. plus if they were like that they would jam the gearing and slide the wheels or drivers of the locomotive.
Line two was a run through track in the shop, and connected to line on about 300 feet west. this was an inspection maintenance , track…
Line three…well that where Amtrak had units that laid over and it was stubbed.. Old early FP-7 FP-9 E-8 and E-9 a and B units… They were from all railroads, and the US government bought em… some were really trash…I’ll elaborate on that later : ) … We also performed general maintenance and certain Federal inspections as needed…If heavy repairs of a big inspection was needed they went to one of the older roundhouse stalls and remained till completed.
Sandy and I were assigned a SW12 switcher for completion. The second trick, ( afternoon shift ) did the diesel engine requirements and the electricians did their electrical cabinet, auxilliary generator and main generator work. We were to complete the bottom end… Brakeshoes, truck maintaince, suspension bearings, lube the cooling fan bearings..and check or replace cooling fan belts, air compressor, lube the center bowls ( where the trucks meet the carbody of the unit ) and change out and air brake or air equipment not done and and filters not changed out or replaced.
We finished off the inspection and started on another…after lunch that was completed as well and they were “carded off” and ready for service. Sandy had me do the heavy work, and I will always be greatfull because I learned and I still remember to this day, and it served me well when I went into engine service.
