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 465
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Lair Of the Bear Monday 10/22/2018: Maria and I decided to take the Moose up to a Mountain walking trail. About 900 am, we took off. It was about a forty minute drive up CO Highway 75. Throug...
RCE 101 BN vs ATSF versions in Tales of the Jointed Track
I was asked to explain the RCE equipment. I will gladly do so. RCE is an acronym, for Remote Controlled Equipment. To make it easy to understand, it is a consist of locomotives, controlled by ...
Fountain Crossover 1978 in Tales of the Jointed Track
Well, I am running as a regular engineer, with an established turn. I am about four or four and a half years of experience. I am comfortable, but cautious, because I still have a lot to learn. ...
CF&I ore trains in Tales of the Jointed Track
I worked many an ore train, when I was in the pool out of Denver. CF&I ( Colorado Fuel & Iron ), smelted ore, in blast furnaces in Pueblo, CO. Hence the name “Pew Town”. Depending on...
Runaway Cars, released from Colorado Springs, Vandalism in Tales of the Jointed Track
We were then, ABS, double track, from South Denver to Bragdon. There was no CTC at Palmer Lake. The Rio Grande dispatched southbound, and the Santa Fe dispatched northbound. There were crossov...
Schooling Mr Moose Part 2 Update in Misc. Thoughts opinions, the whole trash can.
Have had Mr Moose in the third session of Sit Means Sit. Wow what a difference. Walks are so much better, we still tug. But it is not like it was. A correction and we “almost” walk side by side...
Hobo's Tune in Tales of the Jointed Track
Yep, we have found them dead on the railroad..
Air Dump M.O.W. cars in Tales of the Jointed Track
I may or may not have written this, either here or on the other site. These cars were Maintenance of Way, only cars. They were speed restricted, loaded and empty. So just having one in your tra...
Bums time on the rails in Tales of the Jointed Track
We’re out on 8 hours rest. C&S Train 77 was my call. No, it is not the 151, but could be a quick run or a 10 plus hour drag. The phone rings at 1230 am. “Terry, 200 am on 77”. Call acc...
Schooling Mr Moose in Misc. Thoughts opinions, the whole trash can.
I think we have made progress with the Moose. There are still some problems. I am not a dog trainer, and before we got him, he was basically a wild man. So we have enrolled Moose in the Sit Me...
Troubleshooters job..Spring of 2012 in Tales of the Jointed Track
I was working the the “Mentor” troubleshooters job on the 730 am to 730 pm side of the equation. Spring, depending on where you live and be many things. Warming weather, the rain shower, severe w...
Orsa in Mid-1970's and Now in 2018 in Tales of the Jointed Track
I posted about the Larkspur bridge. There was a BN Taconite pellet train, going over. While I was looking for that picture, I stumbled on an Taconite train at Orsa. This was on a sunny Friday ...
Larkspur Bridge Santa Fe the '70's in Tales of the Jointed Track
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. ...
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 in Tales of the Jointed Track
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 ...
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 in Tales of the Jointed Track
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 in Tales of the Jointed Track
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 in Tales of the Jointed Track
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...
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...
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...
