Railroaders' Nostalgia > Parting of the seas

On a rare occurrence on the railroad, family emergencies occur at home needing us to be taken on the trains as quickly as possible. This past Thursday, I had the seas parted for me. I've seen it done for other guys and known a few more to be relieved on the line of road and given a taxi ride to where they need to be. Here's my story:

My Daughter is almost 7 years old and has Cystic Fibrosis. She's doing very well with her CF, but it does present challenges. She's not been admitted to the hospital until now. That's very atypical as these kids and adults usually get sick rather easy and need the meds to keep them healthy.

On Thursday, I got called to deadhead to Lima, Oh from Cincinnati,Oh and to bring Q339-18 back home. These days are usually long days as we are already fighting the clock to get home. Our traffic on our sub is up this year about 25%. So, things are more congested than normal for us. My ex wife called to let me know that Children's hospital called and she was needing to be admitted for 14 days to be put on IV antibiotics for a bacteria that she's not been able to get rid of. It wasn't an emergency, but I did need to be there and I also didn't have a lot of time to make it before morning. We went on duty at 1530 and they were wanting her in at 0730 to put her to sleep to place a PIC line.

I called a few friends and colleagues while in the van to see what it was going to look like getting in. A lot of my friends have went on to dispatcher in Cincinnati and I work as a substitute yardmaster at Queensgate yard. In that time, I've learned that when things go sideways, I can help make things better for others. And I also learned, others can help me too. I called the "LA" dispatcher, Steve Witt and told him of my predicament. He said he would see what he could do. He controls from Toledo to Hamilton,OH. I then called the "LC" Dispatcher, a close friend Wade Foxx. He controls from Hamilton through Cincinnati. Both said they would move me to get me in.

We boarded our train in front of the yard office in Lima at about 1900 and toned up the LA dispatcher. Steve tells me it's busy, but once I get moving, he will not stop me. He lines me south through town and through a 10mph siding to get me going. We had a headlight meet and off we went. I forgot to mention my train. I had two older emd six axles and 11 cars. It was like driving a passenger train. When the medium clear signal popped up at the south end of Erie Siding, the race was on.

As we got to track speed, I could hear Steve telling opposing and preceding trains ahead his plans. He has a train that has a crew member with a family need at home and they were parting the seas for us. We saw high green the entire way in. I passed trains going both directions in the hole waiting for me. We were in Hamilton and switching territories at 2200 hrs. We cleared the south end at milepost 127 at around 1945 and were in Hamilton, mp 25 three hours later. That's a great run.

The LC dispatcher lined me through town rather than pushing us off onto the Norfolk Southern tracks where we do directionalized running between Cincinnati and Hamilton. Some days, that's a death nail for your trip. The NS doesn't really want to delay trains, so they usually want trains that CSX can't handle to go via "the old way". We weren't to be delayed.

We ran straight down in to the north end of the yard where I am back on home turf and can talk to the guys I work with every day. They took us straight into a track, we cut away, and took our power to the house. Total trip length? 9 hours and 15 minutes. For a 266 mile round trip on the railroad, that's just incredible.

I made the comment to my conductor as he was putting off and I was running out the door to go get in my car for the little nap I was gonna get, "Don't you wish we could have them part the seas and we could have trips like this every day?"

He just smiled and said, "go take care of your kid".

-Joe

Great story and I wish you and your daughter all the best.

cjvrr Wrote:
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> Great story and I wish you and your daughter all
> the best.


Same here.


Virlon

SLOCONDR

joeygooganelli Wrote:
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> He just smiled and said, "go take care of your
> kid".

As one who has parted the seas for a hoghead with an emergency, cheers to the folks that made this happen and wishing you and your daughter well.

TAW

Heaven will thank all the folks that help "part the seas" for a parent whose child is ailing! In the meantime, make sure those folks get at least an adult beverage or two (for off duty consumption). Hope it is a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year for you and your family.

Bruce

BCutter Wrote:
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> Heaven will thank all the folks that help "part
> the seas" for a parent whose child is ailing! In
> the meantime, make sure those folks get at least
> an adult beverage or two (for off duty
> consumption).

I haven't been a real rail, or what one here might call a real rail, for 23 years, so I don't know for sure what railroading is like now, but back in Olden Tymes, rails just did what it took to help a fellow rail. Thanks would be fine. Reward would have been unheard of.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1295858,1295858#msg-1295858

TAW

Hope you and your daughter are doing well. This was a wonderful story to read at Christmas time, and it gladdens me to hear that such things are still possible on today's railroads.

Joe...Steve and Wade were always as good to me as they could be when I was out there. I enjoyed working with those two guys whenever I could. Say hello to them for me. I'm living out in the Seattle area now so I don't get to see the guys anymore. And most of all, good luck to you and your daughter.

Jim

Thanks for sharing your story. We have your family in our prayers. That was a fast run! B&O's Cincinnatian ran Lima to Cincy in about 3 hours 15 minutes or so but that was at passenger train speeds.

Posted from Android

Those PIC lines are wonderful if you are going to have lots of IVs, blood drawn, or even if you have to go home and continue with some meds. I had one when I came home after a hospital visit for an infection. Had it for 2 or 3 weeks after I came home. When I wasn't using it I sort of rolled up the tubing and had an old sock with the toe cut off that I put on my arm over it. Had another one before transplant surgery. Not really painful when they put it in but I'm a big boy. You gust have to lay there and be still. Took about 30 minutes. Hope your daughter does well. It's going to be an awkward Christmas but I hope your family has the Merriest Christmas possible. Last year I spent Christmas in the hospital. "Ain't no fun."

John

For the railroaders, this place is like having a weird family...we have all the trappings of family arguments, occasional (off property, of course) fights, and lots of laughs. But when it matters, we are all very protective of our own--and will do whatever it takes to help out a fellow rail. Hope your kid does okay.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/14 10:10 by DrLoco.

She's doing ok. They let us out today, but we have 9 more days of IV antibiotics and then 2 months of inhaled antis. She started coughing from some kind of bug last night, but overall, she's bored in those rooms. I ended up getting called for YM on Sat night. I'm holding off right now for YM just in case they need me.

And yeah, it's neat when things go awry. I have a fellow rail's that needed to get home. I made sure he had zero delay. Trust me, I was thankful for them doing it for me.

Joe

Great story. The railroad can still come through when the right people are involved. All the best to you and your daughter. Merry Christmas.
JB

Sort of along the same line, after my wife had double bypass, I asked the trainmaster at the time for a couple weeks off to take care of her. He said, ' Go, Call me when you can come back.' That's how it should be; thank you David F (the TM then).

Great story. I was afraid something similar would happen to me. Being stuck on a train away from home when I needed to be home. My daughter was born in early October and I was dreading the call that she was coming when I was on a train. I was trying to think what would happen. Luckily, she decided to show up a couple hours after I had gotten home when my wife woke me up saying her water just broke! I hope everything goes well for you and your daughter.

When I was 5 years old (1945) I got on my trusty tricycle and rode from our house over to the Frisco Lindenwood yard to watch trains off the old Fyler Ave bridge by the roundhouse and rode a couple blocks more and visited with my Sister's brother in law. Our house was about a mile and a half from there, I knew where I was going and didn't think anyone would get excited.
Of course, my Mom went ballistic and frantically was looking all over the neighborhood for me. She had the police looking and all the neighbors and called the Lindenwood caller to get a message to my Dad who was engineer on an eastbound troop train coming from Newburg to St. Louis. They handed up a message to him at Cuba, which is about 85 miles west. The dispatcher managed to give him the railroad coming in and he terrified the troops on board according to the conductor. He said one soldier said "I thought Casey Jones was dead".
After about an hour when I got to my sister's in laws, they called Mom and I got my ass tanned twice. Once from Mom and then when Dad tied up and got home, another good one.
Note to self, don't do this again.

Several years ago I came in to work the 2nd trick Alliance West train dispatcher position in Fort Worth. The guy I relieved told me that the 1st out east train at Hemingford, Nebraska was being held out by the yard at Alliance, NE. Further that the conductor had asked to be relieved as his wife had gone into labor and neither the local or system managers would make a decision on calling a relief conductor. Knowing that the on duty Assistant Corridor Superintendent had been a former Alliance Division Superintendent, i went to his desk and explained what was going on and what was not going on. He told me not to worry as he'd get involved right now. In less than five minutes I was telling the conductor he was being relieved as a replacement had been called. Things worked out great as this family lived in Hemingford and the man was able to walk home and take Mom to the hospital pronto!
A little while after both the Road Foreman of Engines and Chief Dispatcher were crying to me about going over their heads. My only comment to end both conversations was to the effect that "you guys had several hours to fix the problem and someone needed to make a decision. Case closed.

displacedneb Wrote:
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> Several years ago I came in to work the 2nd trick
> Alliance West train dispatcher position in Fort
> Worth. The guy I relieved told me that the 1st out
> east train at Hemingford, Nebraska was being held
> out by the yard at Alliance, NE. Further that the
> conductor had asked to be relieved as his wife had
> gone into labor and neither the local or system
> managers would make a decision on calling a relief
> conductor. Knowing that the on duty Assistant
> Corridor Superintendent had been a former Alliance
> Division Superintendent, i went to his desk and
> explained what was going on and what was not going
> on. He told me not to worry as he'd get involved
> right now. In less than five minutes I was telling
> the conductor he was being relieved as a
> replacement had been called. Things worked out
> great as this family lived in Hemingford and the
> man was able to walk home and take Mom to the
> hospital pronto!
> A little while after both the Road Foreman of
> Engines and Chief Dispatcher were crying to me
> about going over their heads. My only comment to
> end both conversations was to the effect that "you
> guys had several hours to fix the problem and
> someone needed to make a decision. Case closed.


GOOD FOR YOU!!!!! That's the way things should be handled when you have CS bast***s above you.


V

SLOCONDR

Yes, thanks to all of the people who "parted the seas" for me and my family when I was working.

One night I was having a particularly rough day at work, and things just plain were not going my way. The General Yardmaster got on our squawk-box and said, "Carl, Henry will be coming in to relieve you." I thought I was in a whole heap of trouble, but then he added, "Go home; your wife is in labor."

Twelve years later, I got another call: "Carl, we're getting a relief for you; your daughter is in bad shape." I was going to the hospital to spend the night with her after work as it was (a pleural infection complicating pneumonia), and I was very concerned. As it turned out, I needed to authorize surgery to clean out pleural sacs, and take pressure off a lung that had collapsed. It took a while, but this daughter (the same one whose birth I had been relieved for) finally recovered, and I've got a great railfan in her six-year-old son.

I've had some events that show how well people can work when needed on our own behalf, too. I had injured myself on a skate job, and needed to be taken to the hospital for a puncture wound that deprived me of a great deal of blood. The only access to me was via a crossing in the yard that was blocked by a slowly-moving transfer run. All I had to say was "I hope they can get moving". This was a foreign-line run, back in the day when all communication was via telephone or direct verbal...we had no radios capable of talking to foreign lines. I presume our GYM got involved again, because he could talk to the IHB dispatcher. Anyway, that train was moving remarkably quickly within just a couple of minutes, and a trainmaster soon got to me and took me out to the hospital.

Another time, it was me with the pneumonia...I came down with it in the middle of the night, waking up with uncontrollable shakes (an effect of fever), two hours before I was to go on duty. They had to give a 2 1/2-hour call for the job, and I could have been in a bit of trouble for "sticking" the job. But I called in anyway, and the caller just said to take care of yourself, and everything was (eventually) fine.

So yes, waters were often parted for me, and most of the people I worked with were pretty decent, when you come right down to it. There were a few people who made the horror stories come true for me, too (like when I was asked if I could work another day before leaving on account of the death of my dad), but I was lucky for the most part, and most of the jerks somehow disappeared without retiring before I did.

Carl Shaver
Lombard, IL