Railroaders' Nostalgia > Grungy end to a bitchy day

I learned very early in my RR career that the average railroader isn’t totally happy unless he can complain about something… anything. There seems to be a tendency to have a lot of idle time on one's hands during an average road trip or even a shift on a switcher. I’m convinced this is fertile ground for the average railroader to conjure up something to gripe about, real or imagined. By 1983 I was 5 years into my career and had learned how to ‘bitch with the best of them’, even though I didn’t always have my heart completely into a given bitch session. I just figured I would fit in better with the guys I worked with if I could let loose on a semi-regular basis.

Here are a couple of shots from a trip I vaguely remember. My time book says I was working with the man just ahead of me in seniority -L. D. “Larry-the-wildman” Pape- as my braking partner & my good friend and fellow Kansas Gang railfan pal D. A. “Dave” Franz as my conductor. My time book also tells me that all 3 of us were force-assigned to this job; local train 1411-12 between Newton & Arkansas City, KS. But there was a lot of ‘job movement’ that week, and I got bumped off this job after only one round trip.

Here are some basic details from the day’s trip: We went on duty for local train 1412 C-1 at 9:00 AM in Ark City, with an tie-up time of 3:30 PM at Sand Creek (the yard in Newton): a mere 6½ total hours on duty. We left Ark City with 62 cars, totaling 2549 tons. Our engine consist was 3531 & 3027. With the engine in image #1 being the 3525 we must have swapped out units at Wichita. This was a common practice in those days but I just don’t remember it on this trip.

I’m pretty sure I enjoyed the round trip, because I seem to to remember giving my good friend Dave, (my “conductor boss”) as hard a time as I could. And Larry was always a hoot to work with, if a bit unpredictable. But in keeping with the theme I established in my 1st paragraph I should have something to bitch about. So, let’s see now… What can I find to gripe about? Ah yes: I was forced to the job, away from working the brakeman’s extra-board in Emporia where I lived. That was always a pisser [1]! Since I was one notch behind Larry in seniority, and it was our first round-trip together I would have to work the head end first. Another pisser [2]! He would take his turn on the head end next trip. I know, I know: this is a local and both brakeman regularly rode the head end until arriving at our end terminal. So that meant for most of the trip I couldn’t relax with my legs up on the seat ahead of me [3]! And gee-willikers: we only had 2 units (instead of the normal 3 or 4) with over 2500 tons. That meant we probably lost maybe 10 or even 12 whole minutes in running time over the handful of grades between Ark City & Sand Creek Yard in Newton. I wasn’t an engineer, but it was still upsetting [4]! Even so, we had such a easy trip we didn’t even come close to making any of the usual overtime. Those dirty, rotten, stingy sob’s [5]! I don’t remember this next event, but it happens once in a while. So this one is just a “practice pisser”: And when we got the train yarded at Sand Creek, a switch crew had us blocked in our track for 10 whole minutes. Geez, that’s enough to send a crew ballistic [6]! And then, as I was escorting our light power to the roundhouse downtown the DS called to let know he would have to hold us at 1st Street crossovers for an eastbound. Oh Yeah!!! NOW those no good bums are gonna find a way to jab our time on duty up to just under making overtime [7]! To cool off I got my camera out for a possible side-by-side shot. But lookie here: the weather has turned really $#!++Y [8]! I guess I’ll shoot anyway, but I’ll be ******!!! You’d think if Amtrak was going to send me a really late train, they would at least have the common decency to send me a lead unit with better paint [9]!

What a bitchy day…

1. & 2. AMTK 293 with a really late train #4 is cruising by my inbound power off of local train 1412 C-1 near the Rail Mill in Newton, KS on November 3, 1983.

Thanks for letting me air it out! (I’m so much happier, now… ;^)
Lance Garrels
santafe199

PS (more pissing): As indicated above, I did get bumped off this local after this one round trip. I would make 2 more round trips + a day on a work train off the brakeman’s extra board before getting completely furloughed for the winter. I wouldn’t be officially recalled until the end of March 1984.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/16/15 23:09 by santafe199.

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Nice pics, Lance!  I recall a lot of this working with Short and Patterson in Livingston.  

Joel

cascadehogger Wrote:
> ...I recall a lot of this working with Short and Patterson in Livingston...

OMG! I don't believe Jim Short EVER had anything good to say about anything. Even the GOOD stuff...

Lance

My leading CPO once remarked "When the sailors are complaining, everthing is OK"
...Lorenzo

10 years prior we would see the crew athe the greasy spoon in Mulvane at coffee time. Must have gone on duty earlier. And needed to pad the timecard.

Don't know when the locals were changed, around 85 the locals worked out of Sand Creek. They also earned their pay with 100 to 120 cars. They really griped if their consist was 4 CF7s.

Fred in Wichita

I love this! As I once found in Mad Magazine, 'it's hard to imagine a fate worse than life!!'
Great stuff.

Posted from iPhone

> OMG! I don't believe Jim Short EVER had anything
> good to say about anything. Even the GOOD
> stuff...
>
> Lance

He was already working the Livingston Switcher by the time I went to train service in 1995.  Even with M-F daylights and off between noon and two, he still complained.

Joel