Railroaders' Nostalgia > Renzenberger playing in the mud.

I was reading a thread on the Western Board about a Renzenberger van being stuck and wanted to share a similar experience I had as a train crew, but didn't want to overrun his thread...

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,3700128

Last year I was working Amtrak 777 from LA to SLO and already having one of "THOSE" trips.  We'd met a freight train at Ellwood and stopped at Gaviota to have police remove a drunk passenger.  As we were approaching Lompoc station (I think we were already a good 45-60 minutes late) the engineer dumped it, then as we were stopping came over the radio and said "I got all kinds of craziness going on out here, people running all over the place, and vehicles...  You know what, one of you needs to go back and make sure I didn't hit that van!"

I get off the train and find us just past the south switch at Surf.  Right at the switch behind us there is a Renzenberger van backed up right against the track, the rear end is somehow resting on the ballast with the back wheels suspended in the air.  We hadn't hit it, but we couldn't have cleared it by more than a couple of inches.  Closer to me a tow truck was pointed northbound and his tow jib was hooked to the back bumper of the van.  The tow truck and Renzenberger drivers along with a freight crew came out of the bushes where they'd run to escape the near collision, let me know nobody had been hurt, and told me the story.

Apparently the freight we'd met had been recrewed at Surf by the Renzenberger.  While leaving the switch with the old crew the van had gotten stuck on the very muddy access road, where it diverges from the ROW.  They were well in the clear of the tracks so they didn't inform the dispatcher.  They called the tow tuck which had arrived after a couple hours then set to work pulling on the back bumper of the van to free it.  Nobody was in the van when the tow truck pulled it free and it managed to roll backwards the 30 feet or so down the access road where it struck the ballast shoulder with the back bumper, which was lifted into the air.  That was only 3-5 minutes before we arrived so they were only just figuring out what to do next when we came around the corner, and they took off running in anticipation of a collision.  It was by God's grace that we cleared the van.

Location on Google Maps



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/15 11:43 by Jaanfo.

I wonder if that was “Cool Bob” from West Colton?

HardYellow Wrote:
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> I wonder if that was “Cool Bob” from West
> Colton?
No, Cool Bob passed away a few years ago. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/15 18:19 by Fredo.

Fredo Wrote:
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> HardYellow Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I wonder if that was “Cool Bob” from West
> > Colton?
> No, Cool Bob passed away a few years ago. 

Sorry to hear that. Cool Bob got that handle when he drove at the ATSF in San Bdno before they transferred him over to the Espee. He was always fun to be around. "Hey Bob we wanna stop up here and grab a bite."  "OK, COOOL".

One time "Cool Bob" ran us from L.A. to just north (west) of Santa Barbara to dogcatch 14.  He ran me and my conductor Ron Henderson from San Bernardino to Riverside a couple of times when we worked the early job at Metrolink.  He was in fact pretty "cool".  Good driver.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/15 09:41 by whistlepig.

"Cool Bob"  was, IMHO, the very best, non-rail driver they ever employed!   He would just bring a wonderful outlook to a day... or night.  What a great, very special person he was!  Bob, thanks for all those carefully driven miles we had together.  He was a very professional driver!  He'll be remembered, well.  We got stuck, one day, at the west end of Slover (over!).  The dry, deep silt, had moved from where it had historically been.  We all pitched in... Bob working the hardest, and it took about an hour to get free.  We were hot, and a bit spent in doing that chore.  Bob said that he was sorry for delaying us... and wanted to drive us right away, without taking a few minutes to rest, and cool down.  I told him not to move.  We found a large tree, and moved the van under it, put the a/c on high, and we relaxed for about 15 minutes.  Once that it appeared to me that "Cool" Bob.... was once again, really cool... I let him drive us to our lodging.

A super guy and gentleman!

Take Care, Stay Safe, Have Fun!

Larry