Brakeshoe Bob ⋅ 72 ⋅
I am a retired Railroad Locomotive Engineer. I hired out with the BN in September of 72 as a machinist and went with the Santa Fe in engine service in 1973 as a Locomotive Fireman. I was promoted to Locomotive Engineer in July 1974. I retired in September 2012 after 40 years. During the period I ran the Joint-Line (Denver to Pueblo,CO) and the Interdivisional between Denver and La Junta, CO. I had almost 8 years in management with the Santa Fe and BNSF.
Entries 464
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Pueblo Yard in Tales of the Jointed Track
I am starting to think I need to write...in my horrid style..fragmented etc so bear with me. I need to write down my thoughts as they come to me...So... that being said .. I was called for a...
Pueblo Yard Extra .. Weed spraying and other work in Tales of the Jointed Track
I was called in late August 2008 for a yard extra in Pueblo… There were two of us engineer’s extra board, holding the board by choice. We were still unloading the XCEL Comanche Power plant. at...
LOCOTROL the early Distrubuted Power in Tales of the Jointed Track
Trackside in the Diesel age…as to take a line from a railroad magazine column, Locotrol was a new technology in the ‘70’s . This allowed the engineer to control, not only the head consist, but...
John Kostur in Tales of the Jointed Track
John Kostur I have a few tales about John … Overall was a good person and a man, and liked to railroad. John was old school, he loved steam power, and the new guys had no clue on what to th...
Trains and Crews Tales of the Jointed Track Part 3 in Tales of the Jointed Track
Cletus Weiss: Cletus was a very tall man, I'd say 6 foot 5 maybe 6 inches and very slim. Had shock white hair and I am guessing he was in his mid to late sixties. He was a fair runner and always...
Suprises and theTransition time ...Rice yard in Tales of the Jointed Track
I was the lead machinist at Rice yard now for all of 6 months ... Spring was coming ... It started to get warmer during the day. Although it cooled at night ( more so because we were in the Platt...
Rice Yard vignettes.. Jointed track Part 9 in Tales of the Jointed Track
Like all jobs, you do the same things over and over... prepare for this or that...run the same delivery route, We all do it, the daily routine. The same was with the railroad. If there wasn't a f...
Tales of The Jointed track part 8 BRAKESHOE in Tales of the Jointed Track
How did I get the name Brakeshoe ... well it originated, here at Rice Yard , when I was in the Mechanical department... and continued when I went into engine service. Nicknames on the railroad......
Tales of the Jointed track Part 7 Rice yard in Tales of the Jointed Track
Tales of the Jointed track Part 7 Rice yard The call was sounded ... I was the lowest man, and I was going to be the night lead machinist at Rice Yard. The "proper" designation was Denver US Ric...
Tales of the Jointed Track Part 6 in Tales of the Jointed Track
My time as an apprentice, was coming to a quick close. I still had school work to do, through the National Railway Education Bureau. These were correspondence courses, sent to your home, with a d...
Tales of the Jointed track part 5 AMTRAK and other tales in Tales of the Jointed Track
It was a Sunday, mid afternoon, we did inspections, or did the inbound consists, changed out air brake equipment..etc.. Serviced the inbound Amtrak power. We had lunch and it was mid afternoon. ...
Tales of the Jointed Track Part 4 in Tales of the Jointed Track
Miscellaneous Stuff .. I was still a machinist helper ... and soon I would be made an apprentice ... to be carded and part of the group. The workforce was aging and I was to be the replacement. T...
Tales of the Jointed Track Part 3 in Tales of the Jointed Track
Cold Weather ........... Like all of us, storms and cold weather affect the railroad's operations. Yeah, unless they are so snowed under that they can't move or get a crew...they stay running. Wh...
Tales of the Jointed track part 1 in Tales of the Jointed Track
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 care...
