Dave Lackey MCO or Eastern Chief Dispatcher / Eddie Leland Moore Texas MCO Chief Dispatcher SOC Santa Fe Railway Schaumberg, Illnois Part 4 in Tales of the Jointed Track

This is about Eddie. Eddie is pretty low key, not too excitable. Eddie do ya have a pulse?. At this writing, and before I went back into craft in 2002, Eddie retired. Eddie lived in Granbury, Tx, and resettled there when we went to Ft. Worth. The SOC, for that region was in Euless, TX. So the Chicagoland area was a big change for Eddie.

A night with Eddie:

The conference call for the Texas and Oklahoma regions are over with. The Ballast Quarry near Pauls Valley, OK, is running hot and heavy. This will supply rock for the track work in this region. I have sighted three SD-40-2’s, to be set out for the ballast train. Something else is going on, a field operational problem. I know its not a derailment, or a service interruption, because a call message would be put out. Eddie, would also let me know. I have an idea, and I was basically right. It was the “Port”, or the Port Terminal Railroad. The “Port” is always busy, but with the BN merger coming in, its even busier. There is tension, because they lose crews to the hours of service, because of congestion. I have rarely heard Eddie raise his voice to anyone, but tonight is an exception.

It was worked out, but he got a little hot. Dave said, “Eddie-Bob ya got a little worked up there”. “Yeah Dave I did, and them guys pissed me off”. Them guys was the supervision at the “Port”. Dave says, “I figured something was going on. We usually have to turn on the monitor under yer chair, to see if you have a pulse”.

Cold Below Zero winter in Schaumberg, IL:

The winter of 1994 and 1995 were brutal and cold. When you worked nights, your vehicle sat outside and it started, that was a good thing.

Grandbury, TX like the DFW area, maybe a few days of 25 degrees. Here in Illinois it is nasty cold. Colorado has cold, but I have never seen stuff like this. This was the only place where I cardboarded the radiator to make it heat up faster. Drove with the heater full blast, jacket zipped up and gloves, just to drive the car. Really!!! Yes Really.

We are working nights, its busy and there are cold weather problems on Dave’s end of the railroad. It normal operational stuff. We talk about the cold.
Eddie says, “Ah have never seen cold like this, since leav’in Texas. I don’t think, I have been in cold like this”. I reply, “Yeah, it brutal, but we’ll make it”. “I hope so”. “Eddie, do you know what Illinois means?” “No… I rightly don’t”. “It’s french for Antarctica!!” (laughing) “Well ya know…I thank yer right”.

The SOC Santa Fe days were better than the BNSF Ft Worth days. These two were a pleasure to work with.