Railroaders' Nostalgia > On The Coast with S*O*B*

This is for the Godfather, SLO Conductor, WAF, E.O., San Joaquin Engineer and others that I have worked with out of SLO. They have been asking me to tell this story on here so here it goes. And also to other rails that may have run into this Officer on the SP. Please be patent, I have to set this time line up so you can understand what happened.

We called him SOB "Sweet Old Bill" for short and he was a Trainmaster on the Los Angeles Division. Before he came to SLO, he was in Yuma as a TM. I had heard he had a big temper, you could watch his neck get red when he was yelling at someone. He got in actual fights with employees down there and was known to take a shot or two at a local Gin Mill. He had a problem with the jug.

The first sign he was in town was when he went over to the beanery at the Park Hotel to have lunch. Well, there was an apple knocker (brakeman) having lunch at the counter and he was called for a west man, on duty in about a hour. Well, he ordered a beer and SOB was sitting next to him. Nothing was said until this guy went on duty. SOB walked up to him and pulled him out of service for Rule G. After that we called this guy "Suds" and he got back to work in 90 days.

Well, by now everyone else knew who SOB was and his reputation. Time went on and I was on the Smokie at Guadalupe one night and we went on the ground. We were on the pass for the SF and doubled over to the back lead. The brakeman was trying to make a pick up and lined the wrong switch. He was a switchman from LA and never been up the Coast. I started to pull ahead and had gone about 2 cars when I felt the cut pull down and then let go and the air went in. The brakeman called me and said, "Try it again". I reset the air and went about 3 cars and the air went in again. By this time the head end was almost at the crossing where we interchanged with the Santa Maria Valley. I called the depot and told the operator to find our conductor and send him over to the back lead where the ice docks were. Well, it turned out the brakeman had lined the crossover from the back lead to the pass and we pulled a car or two into the side of our own train. Well, I sat there for a bit and then saw the signal at the east end go Yellow. (The SF had just left Walforf) Something just didn't feel right so I got off the power and walked over to the main line. I happened to look west, down the main and I could see the shadow of 2 box cars leaning over, way foul of the main line. By then the signal had gone to red with the SF getting closer. I ran over to the house track switch, unlocked it and lined it where I could get the color on the SF. I then ran back to the engine and called the hoghead on the SF and explained the situation. It was L D Nelson II and I knew he was a fast runner. He had no problem getting stopped but now we had Guadalupe sowed up and I knew the cops would be looking for someone to ticket. Well, I see a pair of headlights pull in near the house track switch and then could see SOB's car. I walked over to him and there he was smoking with all the windows rolled up. He rolled down the window a crack and asked what happened. I told him and also said he should get out of there because the cops will be around and the inside of the car smelled like booze and I had a hard time understanding what he was trying to say. He didn't say a word, backed the car up and was gone. It took some time but the SF used the house track to get around the mess and we were able to get the refers and caboose clear and took off. They had to patch us in Santa Barb. This is just to give you what kind of guy SOB was.

I went about my business when I heard thru the grape vine that SOB was on another hunt. A friend of mine was RC Elliott, a brakeman/conductor and lived over the hill in Atascadero. He had messed up his knee walking into a hole, while he walked his train around Santa Clause Lane. He had been off almost a year and had just been retired for 6 months.

Well, I got a call one day from the Signal Maintainer in SLO and he told me they were going to pull out the flashers at Marsh St. and put in gates, etc. He asked if I wanted one because they were going to be cut up. I said sure and borrowed Ralph's big truck to haul it. They loaded it and I drove his truck back to his place until I could use his back-hoe to unload it at my place. Didn't think a thing of it.

Well, bounce ahead a few weeks and I get a phone call, that SOB had been up at Ralph's place to serve him with papers that said he was restricted to the commutes in the City (Again, Ralph was retired and wasn't even an employee) SOB got out of his car and knocked on Ralph's door. Ralph answered and SOB started to give him all kinds of hell, yelling and all, so Ralph let the door open all the way and his 2 dobermans had something to say to this trespasser. SOB leaped back to his car, backed up and drove away. Mind you, he had come up on 20 some acres and was 20 miles off the Los Angeles Division. Where Ralph lived, he was up under the Western Division and that is where he held seniority. Nobody had the right to trespass on his property.

Jump ahead a week or two and I hear SOB had turned Ralph in to the LA Division Special Agent, for having a "Whole Set Of Signals" on his truck. SOB had passed the truck on his way up the hill to "serve" Ralph.

Well, this is where I really enter the picture. You see, employees are not allowed to purchase anything from the company as scrap, ties and a host of other things. I called the Maintainer and asked him what I should do. He said I needed to contact someone in the City from the Western Division to help me. Well, I called the City and was finally connected to a guy, who turned out to be the head of Signal, System. He asked what I needed and I told him of SOB and the Marsh St. crossing. He asked how "Sid" was (the maintainer) and he said he was on the signal gang with Sid when they put in the equipment back in the 40s. He also said that SOB had no reason to be up on the Western Division. He told me who to contact in Oakland and get him a check from somebody that didn't work for the company, so I could get a cash spot bill. Well, I asked a friend and he sent a check payable to the SP for $10.00 plus tax. When he got the receipt back, he sold it to me for $5.00.

Well it had been over a month since SOB called the Special Agents in LA. It was a day or two until I tied up during the day and SOB was upstairs in his office. I tied up, put my grip in my truck and went upstairs. I walked into his office and asked him what was the problem with a set of signals at Elliott's place. He said it was none of my business. I told him it was my business, I owned the signal. I then handed him a copy of the spot cash bill. He stood up and yelled, "This is only dated a week ago". I agreed, and then said, you know how slow the SP is with paper work.

That sent him over the edge. His neck was red, you could see the veins. I started to turn to leave and he yelled, stop. You have a bunch of unauthorized keys on your key ring. He started to lunge towards me so I exited stage left. I went down the stairs, got in my truck, backed out and started to go forward and who do I see. SOB standing with his hands on my hood yelling for me to stop and give him my keys. I could see where this was going, the stories from Yuma, etc. so I started forward, very slowly. By then he was banging on the hood with his fist. I kept going and he started going to the drivers side, banging his fists. When he was clear I took off for home.

When I got home I looked at my hood and you could see the imprints of his hands and fists. I called the Sheriff's office and a deputy came by to make a report. (around a guy like this, you need to CYA) The Deputy agreed it was a print of a persons hand and fist. I then told myself, enough was enough. I called a friend that was a lawyer and asked him what he thought. He put out a restraining order against SOB and there was to be a hearing that afternoon and I did not have to be there. I heard through the pipeline that SOB got a call from the City telling him he better be at the hearing. He was, but the Judge didn't extend the order. (I knew he wouldn't because it would impede commerce. But the judge, who I guess he had dealing with SOB in the past, told him in no uncertain words, "If I see you back here again, you are going to jail."

Well, I covered my back for a time and I heard SOB wasn't able to sit down for awhile. The head of Signal in the City talked to the GM and had called the Superintendent of the LA Division. The Superintendent was told he better get a rein on his officers and what the hell was SOB doing way up on the Western Division, much less involved in a transaction he knew nothing about.

By that afternoon it was all over the division. Sure, he dogged me at every turn after that, bucket tests, speed, you name it. But at least I kept SOB thinking twice before he went to strike out to an employee.

Another little tid bit. I represented an Engineer at a investigation where SOB lost his temper and started banging on his desk. I told him I was making this part of the record that he yelled at me and the engineer and lost his temper. He also threatened the hoghead and that was in the transcript too. The carrier threw out the charges.

He tried to nail me one last time when he got the RFE (who was Western Division) to put in charges against me for violating Article 30, Section 9 (b) of the agreement covering engineers. Not a rule put out by the carrier. How does someone violate their own agreement? The carrier signed it. Well, the RFE was an okay guy but really didn't have his head cut in and SOB BSed him to put in the charges. (He knew if he tried it would be tossed) Well, I waited and had the investigation postponed. They wanted to have it in Wat.Jct. The day before it was to held I called the Superintendents office in Oakland. I talked to an assistant and asked him how I could violate my own agreement. I told him if this was the case, I could be charged for putting in a working time slip. He put me on hold came back and told me the investigation was canceled.

SOB cost the company a lot of money by his outbursts before and after this but kept at it until he retired. Now you can see the other side of being an engineer or anyone under the operating rules and why so many investigation are called "Kangaroo Court."

Hope you were able to follow this. Its been 40 some odd years ago and I really had to go over my notes.


Nudge

Thanks so much for writing the story .. I knew bits and pieces of the drama with SOB and now know the whole story..

IF ONLY IT WERE THE TRUTH!!!!

Bill is gone and can't defend himself, and Nudge was the Local Chairman of the BLE for PART of the time Bill was the TM in SLO, so he has put a griever's slant on the story.

The first HUGE inaccuracy in Nudge's story is that of the brakeman who had the beer before going on duty. Buzz did not sit down next to Bill, he sat down next to ME, and between me and Charlie Kadluboski, a West Pool Conductor, at the counter in Dave's Mexican Restaurant! I didn't know him, and he didn't know me, as I was fairly new to SLO as the Assistant Trainmaster at Surf, and Buzz worked the West pool out of SLO. He ordered food and a light beer, then Charlie asked him what time he was on duty. He said 2pm, we both finished our food, and he drank half the beer, then left. Charlie knew me, and why he didn't say "hey Buzz, have you met the new ATM" when Buzz ordered the beer, we'll never know.

This looked to me like I was being set up, as there was the violator who had announced his on duty time, then ordered a beer, and an employee witness. I went back to the depot to check the call sheet, to find out I knew the other brakeman and the conductor. Then I went upstairs and told Bill what had happened. He felt the same way I did about the setup, and when the crew came on duty, they were invited upstairs. Buzz was taken out of service for one trip, as he didn't even realize what he had done until it was explained to him. Then he too wanted to know why Charlie didn't say something.

Bill told Mike Mohan the LA Supt at the time what had gone on, and Mike insisted upon an investigation. One was held, and Mike wanted at least a month off. Bill told Mike that he had given Buzz his word that it would be one trip off, but Mike wouldn't relent. It finally came down to Bill telling Mike "that it was him or me," before the Supt relented and let him mark up.

The only part of this that I am not crystal clear on, as I WAS THERE in 1977, and Nudge wasn't, is whether Buzz ended up missing two round trips to Watsonville or three.

There is considerable exaggeration in the rest of the story also.

Enjoyed that Nudge. Keep your notes out as I'm expecting more stories to be posted.

Mark Cole

ExSPCondr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> IF ONLY IT WERE THE TRUTH!!!!
>
> Bill is gone and can't defend himself, and Nudge
> was the Local Chairman of the BLE for PART of the
> time Bill was the TM in SLO, so he has put a
> griever's slant on the story.
>
> The first HUGE inaccuracy in Nudge's story is that
> of the brakeman who had the beer before going on
> duty. Buzz did not sit down next to Bill, he sat
> down next to ME, and between me and Charlie
> Kadluboski, a West Pool Conductor, at the counter
> in Dave's Mexican Restaurant! I didn't know him,
> and he didn't know me, as I was fairly new to SLO
> as the Assistant Trainmaster at Surf, and Buzz
> worked the West pool out of SLO. He ordered food
> and a light beer, then Charlie asked him what time
> he was on duty. He said 2pm, we both finished our
> food, and he drank half the beer, then left.
> Charlie knew me, and why he didn't say "hey Buzz,
> have you met the new ATM" when Buzz ordered the
> beer, we'll never know.
>
> This looked to me like I was being set up, as
> there was the violator who had announced his on
> duty time, then ordered a beer, and an employee
> witness. I went back to the depot to check the
> call sheet, to find out I knew the other brakeman
> and the conductor. Then I went upstairs and told
> Bill what had happened. He felt the same way I
> did about the setup, and when the crew came on
> duty, they were invited upstairs. Buzz was taken
> out of service for one trip, as he didn't even
> realize what he had done until it was explained to
> him. Then he too wanted to know why Charlie
> didn't say something.
>
> Bill told Mike Mohan the LA Supt at the time what
> had gone on, and Mike insisted upon an
> investigation. One was held, and Mike wanted at
> least a month off. Bill told Mike that he had
> given Buzz his word that it would be one trip off,
> but Mike wouldn't relent. It finally came down to
> Bill telling Mike "that it was him or me," before
> the Supt relented and let him mark up.
>
> The only part of this that I am not crystal clear
> on, as I WAS THERE in 1977, and Nudge wasn't, is
> whether Buzz ended up missing two round trips to
> Watsonville or three.
>
> There is considerable exaggeration in the rest of
> the story also.

do i detect dissension between the troops ???

Posted from Android

Normal Management vs labor discussion. Nothing changed for over 150 years. Good story, Nudge. Keep them coming

I heard Giles erupt on the PBX more than once. The worst was when the chief dispatcher OK'ed an eastbound to highball the pickup at Surf because the crew said they lost a unit. He demanded an explanation as to why the chief would do that when the train tonnage was not that high and starting going nuts...the chief hung up on him. Giles tried to call back several times (6565 LA) and the chief wouldn't answer the phone. You could tell Giles thought the crew was dogging it. There must have been someone on the train he didn't like...


Allen



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/15 09:49 by bradleymckay.

WAF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Normal Management vs labor discussion. Nothing
> changed for over 150 years. Good story, Nudge.
> Keep them coming


I second the conclusion and the motion. Here's more from "labor".

As far as level headed managers went, Dunsmuir and K Falls were no trade-up for us from SLO. Sellar, do you remember this? It (supposedly) happened while I was in Tucumcari, just before I went firing in Dunsmuir.

SP employed a lot of Navaho and other Indians to work on the rehab of the Golden State Route (many more worked for contractors hired for same). The standard arrangement between the company for both M/W and T&E crews was that they worked like crazy within whatever window the dispatcher allowed them, but they always got paid for twelve hours. At the conclusion of the day's work, the typical practice was to head for an available cantina, something that local company officers overlooked for obvious reasons.

Enter the Klamath Falls road foreman on vacation. For whatever reason, he decided to do a little off-the-cuff recreational testing, and at some point noted a group of Navahos headed into a bar (near Alamagordo?) to immerse their "quit" in beer. After Navahos had settled-in at the bar, the officer burst-in and announced, "I'm Road Foreman ____, and you are all out of service for drinking on duty!" The Navaho's response was to kick his ass.

Licking his wounds, the RFE telephoned the Tucson Division Supt about the affair, to a response something akin to, "Who are you, and what do you think that you are you doing on my railroad?" as the Supt slammed down the phone.

True? I'm not sure, but I heard the approximate story circulated widely on both ends, Shasta and Tucson. The point is that certain officials routinely behaved outside of the norms of decency (even in lower standards of the RR culture), setting themselves up for apocryphal stories like this. SP was a sadly-successful exercise in MAD (mutually assured destruction) behavior between management and labor, and company-blessed bullies (and the higher-ons that countenanced them) were key antagonists in the mess.


OK, bring it on, boys.

-E.O.

Archetypal railroad official. Why SP did not hire more folk like Larry Weller and John Pomykata I'll never know. I wanted to work for the Friendly myself but was already in engine service for the AT&SF by the time SP called me for roundhouse laborer; biggest break in my life. BTW there was a RFE in Sparks in the '80s that was three sheets to the wind looking around for drunken rails but I don't remember his name.

Any of you, who worked the East End to Yuma, remember the “Giles Signal?” Giles had a flashing white light installed, one on each track, at ABS Signals 7304 and 7306, controlled by the Yuma Yardmaster. This was the last ABS signal before you stopped at the A-Signal west side of Colorado, the end of CTC. Giles didn’t want a train coming down to Colorado and stop, now on "final terminal delay.” So, he had those two white lights placed to keep you off the money. In early 1982 they, the lights were discovered by the FRA and removed. Apparently, It was not legal to have a yardmaster controlling anything in CTC limits.
I found them in LA Division Timetable No.12 page 50. RULE 507: COLORADO, Eastward trains must not pass Signals 7304 or 7306 when flashing white light is displayed, unless orally authorized by operator."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/15 16:08 by HardYellow.

Anyway to make your budget better

ExSPcondr,

I don't suppose you would like to ID yourself ??

Nudge



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/15 14:43 by spnudge.

spnudge Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ExSPcondr,
>
> I don't suppose you would like to ID yourself ??
>
> Nudge


Think back, Sellar. who was Giles' assistant?

SLOCONDR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> spnudge Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ExSPcondr,
> >
> > I don't suppose you would like to ID yourself
> ??
> >
> > Nudge
>
>
> Think back, Sellar. who was Giles' assistant?


Jeez Virlon...even I know that one! It was LVG.

LVG? Or was it GMT...

Just about anyone who ever encountered WAG has a good story to tell. Old school for sure. I was told by a well placed 8th floor guy that Giles was deliberately choosen to go SLO to straighten the place out. #1 Market was well aware of it's Wild West reputation.

Sphogger

Yes, I had it down to 2 people and it was GMT. Nuf said.


Nudge

SMV1801leavingguad Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SLOCONDR Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > spnudge Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > ExSPcondr,
> > >
> > > I don't suppose you would like to ID yourself
> > ??
> > >
> > > Nudge
> >
> >
> > Think back, Sellar. who was Giles' assistant?
>
>
> Jeez Virlon...even I know that one! It was LVG.

Sorry Dave, it was GMT. Lynn Gale came later. He is now an engineer out of RSVL, from what I heard. Not bad, going from bridge operator to ATM in SLO to engineer.


V

SLOCONDR

Virlon, LVG did a few years dispatching including a stint on the high pressure WS-57 desk when it was physicallly located in Roseville during the melt down years. Retired in Engine service a couple years ago. From what I hear, happily so. Happy and retired from the railroad seem to be synonymous. :)

Stay out of trouble, WAG would leave you alone. We never saw him when you ran the local. Unlike the current way of doing things he didn't micro manage the locals.

sphogger



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/15 04:40 by sphogger.

WP-M2051 mentioned John Pomykata's name. John was the TM at Mojave when I was the conductor on the Fleta oil cans. He was a gentleman in every sense of the word. He was transferred by the UP to I think Omaha from Mojave. Anyone know whatever became of him?
When WAG was TM in Yuma, a brakeman purchased a used motorcycle from someone in Yuma. WAG saw him loading it on the caboose, didn't say anything at the time, but he called the traffic department to find out what the tariff would be on a single motorcycle going from Yuma to wherever this brakeman was going. He then sent him a bill for the freight.

Brian Black
Retired SP{/UP Conductor

Damn, wonder what he would have charged for a pack of cigarettes?