Railroaders' Nostalgia > Memories of a Past Thanksgiving - Part 2

A week ago I wrote Part 1 of an article that I had previously written for a local Rail fan publication. This it the continuation of that story.

Since I had gotten to Bureau via train that meant that I was on foot for a week. Bureau was (and still is) a very small town. There was no public transportation other than the RI Passenger trains. The story continues...

I completed my shift (7 AM) and was ready for some breakfast and then some sleep. I had a sleeping room in Bureau so that was not a problem. At that time in Bureau you had a choice in restaurants. There was a greasy spoon across the tracks from the depot or a coffee shop at the motel on the highway. Since you could walk from anywhere to anywhere in Bureau in about 15 minutes, I chose the coffee shop.

The big problem was supper. I usually slept until late in the afternoon and then would drive up to Princeton, Il. As I was now on foot, that was not an option. The coffee shop closed in the early afternoon so that left the greasy spoon which was not much of an option! I did however try it once. (The key word is once.)

I suspect that I was complaining to the second trick operator about my plight. At any rate he came up with a plan that solved my dilemma. It did require me to get up earlier. I would take the train to La Salle, Il. I rode No. 14, the afternoon Peoria Rocket, which left Bureau at 2:49pm and got to La Salle at 3:06pm. That gave me about 4 hours in La Salle to eat and kill some time. I then would ride No. 13, the afternoon Westbound Peoria Rocket, which left La Salle at 7:15pm and got me back to Bureau about 7:30. This gave me some time to catch a nap before going to work at 11:00pm. I continued to do this for the rest of my work week.

My other problem was how to get my car on my next day off. Number 7, the Westbound Rocky Mountain Rocket, was my only option as I needed to get to West Liberty before the garage closed. Number 7 left Bureau at 1:48pm but it did not stop at West Lib.

I was telling the dispatcher, whom I regularly worked with, about how I needed to get to West Lib but that I wasn't sure how I was going to do it. After I told him why and the limits of just one day off, he said "No problem, we will give No. 7 a message to stop at West Lib and let you off".

My day off rolled around and wire pass in hand I got on No. 7. I don't recall if the Conductor said anything about West Liberty not being a stop. We got to Rock Island which was a crew change point. The new Conductor came through checking tickets. I showed him my wire pass and asked if they had a message to stop at West Liberty. He said that yes they did. He also wondered who I knew that could get them to stop there!

We got to West Liberty, they stopped, I got off and they were on their way. There was a lineman at the depot (who I knew) who gave me a lift to the garage. I paid for the repairs and I was on my way back to Bureau.

Good story, thanks for sharing!

Another story from the time when doing the right thing was more important than following every rule to the letter.

Thanks for the rest of the story.