Railroaders' Nostalgia > Derailments on the Burbank branch

My favorite job to work at Gemco was the Vans Local. When you got on the branch you could shut the radio off and work on hand signs the whole 26 miles. There were about 20 + active shippers on the line at the time in the late 70's . PKB was the trainmaster around the time and later Jim Sula and Bill Farrens. All were super guys to work for. 
Pete ;
​Were you there when I was on the Van Nuys local and we came off the Burbank branch to wye the train . I was going 5 mph and the rail spread and the entire train consisting of an SW 1500  ,    3 cars and caboose hit the ties.  Or when Clyde Bennet went on the ground at Balboa and put 6 - 8 loads on the ground at the permanent shoofly ?  How about when the half loaded centerbeam was behind the caboose and flipped it on its side on the Desoto ave crossing with John Buzzi and Kenny Schmelzel in the cupola ? At the time there was no resrictions on a half loaded car and Aetna lumber could not get to the other side . 
We had one trainmaster for a short time that nobody liked so we put his phone number on a For Sale sign and attached it to the caboose at random times. He was pissed that he got all these phone calls wanting to buy a caboose. 

The job was fun going down Chandler Blvd and on the EX PE tracks at North Hollywood. People would wave all over the valley at the time and in the summer there were lots of sunbathers as the tracks went right behind houses for miles . You were in your own world on the branch .

Tom

 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/26/16 14:00 by switchlamp.

Nothing beats a branch line job.
Usually lots of work but you could get it done at your own chosen speed.

DHF

Oh  the joy of the Van Nuys Local!  I vaguely remember the Van Nuys putting its entire train on the ground as the rail spread at slow speeds.  The LA Taylor Yard truck was always close by, just a short radio call would get them to the scene in a matter of minutes.  Don't remember any of the other local derailments.  Guess by the time I was working with you guys we had figured out the center beam issues and everything had settled down.  As time went on, the Van Nuys customers started disappearing and this became one of those jobs with a few cars, a few hours of work, but always back in time to help out at the GM plant if necessary.  Good times!

Pete

Clyde Bennet is still working! Currently on the RE01 pool, Roseville to Bakersfield. Rumor is that he was just
used on the latest test of the rebuilt rotary on Donner. I  have been out of the UP computer since 8/1/14, but ble692 can check it for me!

We used to call him Clyde the Glide because he rode a Harley to work, Wish I had a pic of him with the beard and hair past his shoulders. He looked menacing but was the kindest guy on tthe division. We were in the same firemans class. I came from train service and he was a TO operator at Pepper St in W Colton.

tom

Clyde was also called Clyde the Camel... after the song by Ray Stevens..  I will post a story later about the Branch about an incident that happened to me in 1983..switchlamp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We used to call him Clyde the Glide because he
> rode a Harley to work, Wish I had a pic of him
> with the beard and hair past his shoulders. He
> looked menacing but was the kindest guy on tthe
> division. We were in the same firemans class. I
> came from train service and he was a TO operator
> at Pepper St in W Colton.
>
> tom