The Veral Hines Microwave Yard Office Cookbook in Tales of the Jointed Track

I laugh as I write this one. So if this was a former Open Diary repeat sorry.

Veral was a Train order Operator and a clerk. When track warrants came into being, the Operator jobs went out the window. Some of the operators went into dispatching, others said later on for this, and placed as they could.

Veral was Bill busting and making up the Way Bills and train consist for trains out of Pueblo. We, as the ATSF were still having hard copies of Way Bills on the Caboose, but that too will change.

There was a small microwave in the office. The railroad provided that, for employee use. Veral our culinary Chef, working third trick ( 2300-0700 ) decided that hard boiled eggs, via the micro wave was a good idea.

Veral proceeded to place 4 raw eggs in the microwave, closed the door, place the timer on 3 minutes and the HIGH was the order of the day. He didn’t pierce the shells to relieve the pressure.

All was good in microwave land until the eggs heated up and exploded. Now this wasn’t a big expensive microwave, but a small cheap one. It basically was a food heater. The pressure built up, and the force was big enough to blow the door open and dangling by one hinge. There was pieces of raw and cooked egg all over the walls of the yard office. Luckily, Veral, nor anyone else was in the way when this all let loose.

News travels fast, and we heard about it at the 31st Street yard office the next afternoon. We were called on a freight that late afternoon. We arrived in Pueblo around midnight, yarded the train, and power to the fuel track. Veral was there working the night shift.

There still was light remnants of the night before and the damaged microwave in the trash can. I said “Veral, I heard your writing a microwave cook book!! The Veral Hines’ guide to microwave cooking”. “God damn, a guy can’t make a f’in mistake around here without the whole Company knowing about it!!!!”. He calmed down a bit, but still got ribbed about it weeks after.

Last updated October 07, 2014