Nostalgia & History > Train Order Tuesday - A different railroad

Until April 1, 1972, The Jersey Central had operations in the State of Pennsylvania (you can find old reporting marks "CRP"). After CNJ pulled out of PA, the Lehigh Valley assumed operations of those former CNJ lines (They did retain and operate some former L&NE trackage in the Bethlehem area though). Apparently CNJ took their equipment, but left their paperwork behind. The following 3 train orders are for Lehigh Valley trains, post 4/1/72. I found it interesting that CNJ had more than one print style for their forms. 

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Some of those orders were written up and signed by R Tower operator Eddie Mink.  He was quite a character and a great story teller.  We used to visit him while he was working at R Tower in Allentown, Steel Tower in Bethlehem or Lehigh Tower in Saucon Yard. Here are 2 shots of Eddie Mink in Steel Tower from 1985 and 1987.  Thanks for the memories.  Great Post !

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Great shots of Eddie, thanks for posting. I used to visit him at R Tower in the late 1970's, and yes, lots of great stories. I purposely picked those orders to post because he wrote them. I've probably got a few more...

perklocal Wrote:
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> Some of those orders were written up and signed by
> R Tower operator Eddie Mink.  He was quite a
> character and a great story teller.  We used to
> visit him while he was working at R Tower in
> Allentown, Steel Tower in Bethlehem or Lehigh
> Tower in Saucon Yard. Here are 2 shots of Eddie
> Mink in Steel Tower from 1985 and 1987.  Thanks
> for the memories.  Great Post !

Interesting photos and story.  Eddie must have liked that shirt.  He is wearing in in both photos although you mentioned they were taken at different times.
ALLEN

What was a "stiff tin"?  (printed on the bottom of the first Train Order in the set).    I've never seen or heard that term in any of the books I've read about Train Orders or when serving as a Train Order Operator on large layouts in California.

chakk Wrote:
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> What was a "stiff tin"?  (printed on the bottom
> of the first Train Order in the set).    I've
> never seen or heard that term in any of the books
> I've read about Train Orders or when serving as a
> Train Order Operator on large layouts in
> California.

A "stiff tin" is a thin metal sheet the size dimensions of a train order. The orders to be written and carbons were placed in appropriate order on this metal sheet. Then a ballpoint pen could be used to manually write the orders. The stiffness provided by the metal sheet helped to produce legible copies. Most train order offices had more than one "stiff tin" on hand. The ones I saw appeared to have been machine stamped as opposed to home made. Hope this answers your question.
ALLEN

krm152 Wrote:
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> > Train Order Operator on large layouts in
> > California.
>
> A "stiff tin" is a thin metal sheet the size
> dimensions of a train order. The orders to be
> written and carbons were placed in appropriate
> order on this metal sheet. Then a ballpoint pen
> could be used to manually write the orders. The
> stiffness provided by the metal sheet helped to
> produce legible copies. Most train order offices
> had more than one "stiff tin" on hand. The ones I
> saw appeared to have been machine stamped as
> opposed to home made. Hope this answers your
> question.
> ALLEN
Depending on how you stuffed your carbons, you could also use a stylus 
which is what I generally used.
zr190

When I was an extra board operator for IC and then NYC, I bought a stylus via mail order.  It had a slightly broader point than a ball point pen, and would make more copies at a time.  Now, I am wondering where it is, and will likely frustrate myself looking for it.  Double sided carbon paper does not seem to be available any more.