Entries 401
Page 3 of 17
Larkspur Bridge Santa Fe the '70's
Larkspur, CO is about 45 miles or so out of Denver proper. How many times in my railroad career have I ran over this icon. This picture, a spring snow storm. The “orange car” A Datsun 240-Z. ...
Big Lift where We Inspected the DP's day or night
The video shows where we used to inspect the DP’s ( Distributive Power ). DP’s are a “helper” so to speak controlled by a dedicated radio frequency assigned to the railroad. The engineer contro...
Airport Road MP 21.4 southbound mainline
You may have heard me talk about the Hot Box Detectors from time to time. This is about 2 miles south of Big Lift https://1drv.ms/v/s!AgV2J1zT9nylqgVec1HBiGM1CWOz Airport Road ? At 19 seconds ...
Sedalia Manhart Street and the Southbound Main MP 24.5
From the map, last entry, you can see the town of Sedalia is not that big. “Main Street” 2 blocks long. Gabriel’s is a Northern Italian Restaurant, here in Sedalia. It is the Fancy one. It...
Downtown Sedalia Colorado Northbound Main 2
Sedalia proper isn’t that big. Manhart Street is “Main Street”. Map of the Metropolis Manhart Street looking south/southwest towards Perry Park and Deckers A note Jarre Mart is For Sale. ...
This will deal with the Automatic Brake Valve. No, we just don’t go to release condition to a full service application position. When you brake your car or truck, you adjust your foot pedal p...
Orsa ..... South Switch
Times have changed. I see they are placing in new signals so they can operate both ways, without track warrants, because if you are going against the current of traffic, you are now non-signal...
MP 30 and the Herzog Work Train at ORSA
I used to be able to pull off near MP 30, when I did trouble shooting. Can’t now, due to new high curbing and development. I got as close as I can. You’ll hear the Dog greeting from the Brookl...
Wolfensberger Road, Castle Rock Southbound Main line
Well “THIS” is the new and improved Wolfensberger Road. It didn’t look like this forty plus years ago when I hired out. You’ll see a Hy-Rail truck fly by as I narrate. This is Jim Werner, you ...
Castle Rock was a full functional siding when I hired out. Both the house track and the siding on the north end access are stubbed and the switches removed. Castle Rock siding was 5700 feet at o...
I have stopped at Territorial Road, just south of here and the DP units are about 10 car lengths south of this crossing. I have stopped here at Three Oaks, because another train was stopped up a...
Southbound Mainline Between KOA Campground and Tomah
The block signal is about one mile south of Tomah Road crossing and the south switch at Tomah itself. In the late 70’s the Santa Fe decided to lengthen the distance between signals. There was a...
This is a video taken near MP 42. This is where the frontage roads on both sides of the Interstate end. They begin at Plum Creek Parkway, just south of main street in Castle Rock. There is a ca...
Jim Warner BNSF Track Supervisor Big Lift, CO
Jim worked the Big Lift Section out of Big Lift, when I was on the local. When Jon Riggs became the Track Supervisor on the Brush Sub, Jim became the Section Foreman for the gang. He was that f...
John Kostur Locomotive Engineer Santa Fe Railway
This is a re-post… You may have read it or not. When I took the GMC in, I went home up via the Tomah Rd exit, and took the north frontage road back. The old KOA Campground..Now Yogi Bears Jell...
Obrien's Cafe, Sedalia, CO
I had to take the Denali in to the Dealer, with a bad engine sensor. I arrived at 700 am and checked in. They gave me a 2018 Chevy Colorado pick up. Like a Canyon, not a Denali, Gas powered, w...
The Retired BNSF Employee Luncheon June 21st, 2018
I was approached by a railroader Bill Nabors, who worked with me, as a laborer, at C&S 7th Street Roundhouse. I also crew changed with him, when he went into engine service with the BN. Bil...
Industries on the Joint-Line Mid 70's early 80's
I was asked by a reader to contact by e-mail, which I did. He wanted to know about the industries and switching we did. Well racked the old Brain..and this is the email I sent back. I may have...
Time has marched on.. Some of this crew have passed, the branchline is now a walking path in some places. There are homes and buildings , business parks now in there area. The “industry” we switc...
The Old Santa Fe Park Branch revisited
I was going to start this entry, only to find that Photobucket, was asking for an exorbitant fee to third party host. Well, they reduced their fees, and not too bad now. So I can update the wa...
Prospect Junction Denver South C&S Rennix Yard
In my early career, we’d catch a train out of Prospect. The Junction was Prospect, and then called Rennix. I don’t know, we knew it as Prospect, in my early railroad career. The C&S to Ch...
AHHH The Aroma of the Rotten Onions
This came to mind. I was cooking and bought some yellow onions. I cut into one, CRAP!!! was rotten and slimy inside. Nothing to save here. Luckily a spare and dinner was saved. Now onto th...
Feral Cats and the Denver 23rd Street Roundhouse
No this isn’t a Dog entry, plus I may or may have not posted previously in either OD or here on PB.. A repeat please bear with the old rail. There were a lot of feral cats around the diesel sh...
Big Lift Local, NO Power Colorado Springs, CO September2009
This might have been a Open Diary, dunno. They took our “Springs Switcher” from us on a Friday, because it was due Federal Inspection. Prior to setting it up for a southbound pick-up, we did o...
At this juncture, the Sedalia turn came, off the pool, both Train and Engine crews. We are still Double track, South Denver to Bragdon, no CTC between Palmer Lake and Crews, All is still 251 ABS ...
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.
