Ed Carver the work train Kelker to Crews. in Tales of the Jointed Track

Okay this is a drunk Ed story.

I worked with Gorden Euell, and delivered the Switch, and signal masts, the signal heads and the “Bungalow” that housed the circuits and the DS phone. I caught this, at Pueblo and Ed an me are going to be good friends for four days. This work train is going to relay rail, ties, ballast to bring the single track into completion.

I am a promoted engineer, but I can’t hold a turn. So as I fireman, I am called with engineers as my turn lines up with. I catch Ed…yuck, maybe a flip and we’ll move on. No … an unassigned work train, maybe a day or two. Could be for a week.

“Terry … Work train 0430”. “Work train 0430”. The call was taken. Is what it is. The Ed equation, and typical Ed. He “Pioneered” ( Pioneer Tavern), and was in rare form. The Conductor, was okay, so to speak, but not overbearing. “Kid what ya think?” “Well what do you think?. I’ll shut the job down and take over if needed, and we’ll bear the brunt of it”. “Yes, monitor this, let’s not try to draw too much attention”. Fuck, do I get baby sit pay?

Sixty cars of ballast, close to 6900 to 7800 tons, depending on the cars they were loaded in. Ed runs em up to Crews. He’s a fuck head right now, and I can see, what Ed we’re getting. We get our authority, via the train orders, and the Foreman in charge of the work train. Ed misses spots, and commands. The section is pissed. Ed says .. “I am tired of this shit, you take over”. We knock a lot of ballast, since Ed is off the seat.

Lunch… the section takes its break for a meal. We are taken, somewhere to eat as well. There is still 35 cars of ballast to unload. Ed didn’t go eat with us. Ed, now decides, to take the seat.

The section crews see who is running. The Conductor is flat out told, if the Kid ain’t running this, we aren’t doing anything. Okay, explain that!! We’re all on the hook. The Section Foreman , and the Conductor come into the cab. “Ed, the section and the foreman, don’t trust you at the throttle. They want the Kid to operate this. It’s either that, or explain why the work isn’t getting done”. “FUCK you all !!…(Typical Ed). “I didn’t want this goddamned train anyway”. Well yer on it.

I ran the next few days.. and back home. Ed retired, thank God, 2 months later. He died two months after that. Was a tough time on the rails… but we survived.