Railroaders' Nostalgia > How many hours did you spend on the "Slide" (SP Taylor)

So often, the top end herder would send power up the slide to keep the outbound engine leads free of congestion.
Often you could be up there for hours. You know the story.
In passing the Top End Yardmaster's shanty, you might occupy the "Main Line Pocket" on your way to never, never land.
At the bottom end of Taylor, maybe near the pigeon yard or D tracks was another pocket track with a catchy name one
only encounters in railroad lingo. Can't recall the name. Maybe one of the old head herders can tell us.
Remember the large white chalk lettering on the concrete footings supporting the Glendale Fwy overpass above the "Top
End"-Where is the Daylight?

Worked Dayton Ave Tower Summers of 1969-1971 and the Pigeon Farm was the pocket where power would "rest" while Yardmaster decided what to do.  Convenient place to rest as crew would often come over to the tower which had a break room on bottom floor with soda machine.  Good times!

Pete Baumhefner

In Atlanta, GA, CSX (former L&N) has a steep westbound descending grade into Tilford Yard that is known as "the Slide."
Is the Slide at Taylor something similar?
Andy
Jacksonville, FL

i worked in and out of Taylor Yard or years and that never happened or did I ever hear that done .  No such track called the mainline pocket.  The slide was mainly used for the hump job to pull a cut to clear the switch and proceed to the hump...ValvePilot Wrote:
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> So often, the top end herder would send power up
> the slide to keep the outbound engine leads free
> of congestion.
> Often you could be up there for hours. You know
> the story.
> In passing the Top End Yardmaster's shanty, you
> might occupy the "Main Line Pocket" on your way to
> never, never land.
> At the bottom end of Taylor, maybe near the pigeon
> yard or D tracks was another pocket track with a
> catchy name one
> only encounters in railroad lingo. Can't recall
> the name. Maybe one of the old head herders can
> tell us.
> Remember the large white chalk lettering on the
> concrete footings supporting the Glendale Fwy
> overpass above the "Top
> End"-Where is the Daylight?

And the truth be known...

The "Main Line Pocket" was a short track almost directly in front of the Top End Yardmasters office.
It held a couple of cars. The name was common knowledge amongst the switchman.
You may have not have been spotted on the slide but I was many times and for hours. Especially
at night, especially at 1,2 & 3am.

What years are you talking about ?  What capacity did you work at Taylor Yard???    The slide was primarily used for the hump.. once in a while a train or the Glendale or Burbank switcher would  head in the top end of the slide to either get around a train on the east main.  I worked all hours at Taylor and never ever over 20 plus years heard anyone park on the slide..As far as the pocket track.. it was always called the A Yard pocket.. never the mainline pocket..  I parked there a few times on extra Chats power awaiting the BSM or APLA for the auto parts to arrive.  I worked the hump and the Glendale and Burbank jobs...  ValvePilot Wrote:
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> The "Main Line Pocket" was a short track almost
> directly in front of the Top End Yardmasters
> office.
> It held a couple of cars. The name was common
> knowledge amongst the switchman.
> You may have not have been spotted on the slide
> but I was many times and for hours. Especially
> at night, especially at 1,2 & 3am.

Sorry, but I never head the main line pocket called the " A yard pocket" Never in all the years I was
around Taylor. The Top End Yardmaster sent power up the slide often when there was no place else
for the power. On power swaps at the top end for west bound trains.
My seniority date is 6-20-67. What's yours??

A seniority date without a name means nothing

Well,
I was an LA switchman from February of 1966 until May of 1970 when I was able to hold an LA Yardmaster's job full time.  I worked as a yardmaster from May of 1970 until April of 1973 when I was promoted to Assistant Trainmaster at City of Industry.

'A' yard tracks 8, 9, and 10 had to be humped through crossovers located about 30-35 cars from the East end.  That meant  those tracks had to be pulled West  out of the top end at least 35 car lengths, either up the slide or out the main line.  As these were the longest tracks, the shove back in without any air was very slow and careful, and the second half was hump speed.  Consequently we didn't go out the main line, because we would tie it up.  Also, the hump engine with only one helper and no foreman on board, didn't want to be on the main track with no train orders, so they used the slide.

Empty flat cars were classified into a bowl track, as were empty plain box cars, 215 tags, (Evergreen high quality box cars) and Mojaves.  When these bowl tracks filled up, the hump ydm asked the desk ydm to couple the bowl track and leave it so a hump engine could pull it back into the track it had just humped.  Those 30-40 cars were left in the hump receiving tracks, 11-27 for the top end engine to pull back and build a Westbound  train in the outbound tracks 1-7.

Bottom line of it, during the busy years, nothing got stashed in the slide, because the bottom half of it was always in use.  Now they store baretables in it...
G

well I never said we got stashed up there, but the top end yardmaster sent us up, way up there more than once.
Never during daylight, it always seemed to be in the middle of the night. And then we had to watch for lantern
signals from the herder  to proceed back down to the crossovers or to the train made up in the yard. You had
power coming out of the RH frequently and the top end played musical chairs with you every now and then.
Just ask "Cadillac Collins"!

6/23/69...   If you are using Cadillac as a reference...  Number one believe he passed away many years ago... number two he was more interested in his Cadillac and his young friends than switching cars... 
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sorry, but I never head the main line pocket
> called the " A yard pocket" Never in all the years
> I was
> around Taylor. The Top End Yardmaster sent power
> up the slide often when there was no place else
> for the power. On power swaps at the top end for
> west bound trains.
> My seniority date is 6-20-67. What's yours??



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/30/16 04:27 by SanJoaquinEngr.

Questions for you ValvePilot ////Name the yardmasters in the 1970 s that worked Taylor yard...Who was the GYM in the 70's?? 
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> well I never said we got stashed up there, but the
> top end yardmaster sent us up, way up there more
> than once.
> Never during daylight, it always seemed to be in
> the middle of the night. And then we had to watch
> for lantern
> signals from the herder  to proceed back down to
> the crossovers or to the train made up in the
> yard. You had
> power coming out of the RH frequently and the top
> end played musical chairs with you every now and
> then.
> Just ask "Cadillac Collins"!

"Just ask Cadillac Collins?"

Cadillac had an April of 1952 seniority date.  However he was 33 years old when he was hired, which made him 97 years old last February, and a little hard to get ahold of!

An easier, more specific question to answer:  Who was the regular yardmaster at the top end of A yard on the daylight shift during the period you are talking about?

Hint 1:  His brother was a local chairman.

Hint 2:  He was well known by his nickname. 

An even easier question to answer:  Who became the LA yardmaster's Local Chairman in 1970 after Gerry Williams retired? 
I'll edit in a hint:  He became very well known by his nickname later, and was a GOOD Local Chairman!
My LA switchman's date was 2/24/66, and I was 18 when I was hired.  My LA yardmaster's date was 8/10/69.

The 2nd edit is the answer to the questions I posed above.

The daylight top end yardmaster was Larry "Beetface" Seevers.  His brother was Jim Seevers, the Conductors Local Chairman.

The yardmasters Local Chairman after GA Williams was George "Jaws" DeLellis.  

Its a small world, remember the name Williams?  TE Williams Sr. hired out the same day I did.  He was 1st in seniority, DA  Foster was 2nd, he' now a Sparks Engineer, and I was 3rd on that day.
TE Williams Jr. was killed at Colton.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/16 19:41 by ExSPCondr.

Twist, twist, turn, turn. Can't BS rails. They know too many people

Never did know his name, but the Midnight Top End YM always came in loud and clear at Industry. When he called you "Pal", as in "Pal, what's your delay?", you would know that you were NOT his Pal!

Valve Pilot, your silence is deafening!  You posted a seniority date, but you didn't  say whether you were a switchman or a brakeman.   Also, if you were hired as a fireman, you didn't tell us whether you were hired on the San Joaquin or the Los Angeles division!  You apparently don't know any of the yardmasters or any of the local officials that were working at that time. This means that you don't know anything that can't be found from old timetables, etc.

We're still waiting for the answers to the previous questions, but here's another question that any railroader can answer!  Who were your whiskers (the person on each side of you in seniority)?

This sounds to several of us retired LA division employees that actually you are a foamer posting on the railroader's board!  The ball is in your court now,  to prove otherwise.
G  

Twist... Twist goes the knife

WAF Wrote:
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> Twist... Twist goes the knife


True... we don't mind the assuming stories.. Get the facts straight.. plus don't write them as you were there.. just preface the story that it  was told by whom...

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/16 11:32 by SanJoaquinEngr.

SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WAF Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Twist... Twist goes the knife
>
>
> True... we don't mind the assuming stories.. Get
> the facts straight.. plus don't write them as you
> were there.. just preface the story that it  was
> told by whom...
>
> Posted from Android

Exactly. Just like I rely stories on from SP people who told me or as I observed thhem