Western Railroad Discussion > Robert G Thruston

 For you older guys on the  SPLos Anges Division, Robert G Thruston passed away yesterday morning. He was a pretty well liked Superintendent in the early '70s.


Butte St Brakeman

Sorry to hear that.  I remember him as a square shooter. RIP

He was the Superintendent who promoted me in 1973.  RIP Bob.
G

Rest in peace Bob!  He was my Superintendent when I was promoted in 1974.  I last spoke with him during the Espee in Indio event a couple of years ago.  Bob lived just outside of Indio.  He was also a pilot during his tenure as Superintendent of the Los Angeles Division and I'll always remember Assistant to the Superintendent, Art Cole, tell me about the time he flew with Bob over the LA Basin and how close they came to a Hughes Air West flight.  Art stated you could see the passengers tipping their cups of coffee to their mouths when Bob and he flew by the DC-9.

I remember Mr. Thruston. He followed Jay Long and preceded Mike Mohan, IIRC. I never had any personal dealings with Bob but remember he
MC'ed the retirement party for RFE Rollin Roberts and, again IIRC, nobody was  denied permission to lay off to attend.
The venue was packed to the ceiling and how any trains operated that night I'll never know. Thoughts for his family, RIP.

Charlie

Bob was a professional and a gentleman and I say that from a competitor's viewpoint.  For a time I headed up the Mexico Group in M&S for UP and as such we often found ourselves at many of the same meetings/functions..  Sorry to hear of his passing but heaven just got a great guy!

Mexrail



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/18 11:29 by mexrail.

I had a meeting with Mr Thruston back in the early 70's concerning an unruly Tainmaster in Yuma....he was messing around with work schedules for my Wire Chief students, but Mr Thruston straightened every thing out.  A good man.
Chris

engine3420 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I had a meeting with Mr Thruston back in the early
> 70's concerning an unruly Tainmaster in Yuma...
> Chris

I'm guessing the unruly TM was Bill Giles.  If it was I always wondered how he ended up in San Luis Obispo after his time in Yuma.


Allen

bradleymckay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> engine3420 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I had a meeting with Mr Thruston back in the
> early
> > 70's concerning an unruly Tainmaster in Yuma...
> > Chris
>
> I'm guessing the unruly TM was Bill Giles.  If it
> was I always wondered how he ended up in San Luis
> Obispo after his time in Yuma.
>
>
> Allen

He was,according to him, sent to SLO to get rid of the "riff raff" as he termed it. I'm sure Mr Thruston didn't come down hard on "Sweet 'ol Biil" because he was the trainmaser that broke in Mr Thruston as an officer.
 

As the LC for the BLE in SLO, I delt with him quite often.  Many stories  between RGT & WAG.

Nudge

Yes Bill was the hanging judge when it came to heavy duty investigations. One thing about Bill if you screwed up just tell him the truth the first time. If you lied to him he would come down on you like a ton of bricks !

Sorry to hear of the passing of RGT. He was a true gentleman. He was one of the few SP officers that commanded respect . He must of been in his late 80's. RIP

Posted from Android

ButteStBrakeman Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> He was,according to him, sent to SLO to get rid of
> the "riff raff" as he termed it. I'm sure Mr
> Thruston didn't come down hard on "Sweet 'ol Biil"
> because he was the trainmaser that broke in Mr
> Thruston as an officer.

OK, thanks Virlon.

SP LA Division ETT #6 effective 10/31/76 shows Giles at Yuma, G.C. Townsend as the TM at Santa Barbara, G.L. Erickson as the assistant TM at Surf, and M.L. Park as the assistant TM at SLO.  Did Bill arrive in SLO in 1977 or 1978?  Anybody remember what became of Mr. Park after Bill rode into town?


Allen


 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/11/18 21:34 by bradleymckay.

The people who bad mouthed Bill Giles didn't know him well.  The year he came to SLO  there were over 600 lost days due to injuries.  The next year there were 220.  Under George Townsend, Neighbor Phillips and Bud Park, nobody cared.  If you wanted some time off, why not get paid for it?
At that time, there were four jobs at Oxnard, and no trainmaster.  But there was a trainmaster at Santa Barbara with no crews going on duty.  With no cat, the mice played.

Bill moved the trainmaster's office to SLO, and moved the assistant's position from SLO to Oxnard.  The assistant's position at Surf was the only one that didn't move, and that one was mine.  I worked it from '77 until '82 when I went on Amtrak as a Trainmaster, which was mosty a traveling electrician and air conditioning tech.

Bill and Bob Thruston were both pilots, and had been good friends for years, Bill had been promised the Coast TM's job when Townsend retired for years.  Did he tear the place up the first year?  Yes, and then most everybody wised up that if you did your job he would support you.  Local freight conductors who did a lot of switching on old tired track were bound to have a car on the ground once in a while, and nothing happened.
When you put five cars on their sides in P & G, and then leave after being told to stay and wait for the drug tester, you had a problem.  That engineer's griever talked some sense into him, and he came back, a 400 nanogram marijuana reading carried less discipline than an insubordination dismissal!

Bill had your back, period.

I don't want to hijack this thread of memories of Bob Thruston, so I won't say any more. 
G

"Neighbor" Phillips retired first at Surf, and George Erickson took his place.  Townsend and Park retired at the same time.

Bill moved the secretery's position from SBA to SLO, and Marsha followed her work. Bill went to SLO in the Spring of 1977, at the same time that Jim Denton was promoted from Chief Clerk to the Superintendent at Bakersfield to the ATM's position at Oxnard.  I was the last to come, as they were having trouble filling my place at City of Industry, and held me there almost 90 days after the transfer was approved.  The 60 day escrow was about to close on both houses, which would have put me in a motel in LA, and left my house in Santa Ynez empty.  Bill, Jim, and Marsha had been there about two months when I finally got there in June of 1977.
G



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/18 13:25 by ExSPCondr.

Trivia note. M L Parks real name was Merwood. No wonder he used Bud instead....

Posted from Android