Nostalgia & History > A day in the life of a pool freight engineer...Part 3

Sorry I haven't post part 3 sooner. I'm trying to recover from my last trip. It was very strange.

Let's recap what we have done so far on our trip.

We took the call at 840PM for 1005PM on duty at Lathrop for the IOALBR-04, which is an empty bare table train, with 100 empties and we have 2 units. A C44-9W on the point with an SD70M trailing. We have 100 empties and about 2200 tons and our total train length is 6638 feet. Because of one restricted car, our maxium speed is 60MPH.

Our trip so far has been from Lathrop to Fresno. We will start this part of the trip from Clinton Avenue in Fresno, which is where the trains from Roseville stop to make their crew changes so that the guys who work the Bakersfield to Fresno pool can take their trains to Bakersfield.

If this is confusing let me explain. We have two pools that work north out of Bakersfield. One pool (the 27 pool) works from Bakersfield to Fresno and the other pool (the 28 pool, which is my pool) works from Bakersfield to Stockton/Lathrop. I hope this helps a little bit.

Now I will list the speed restrictions for the remainder of our trip to Bakersfield. This time I will give the actual location, including the mile post location, of the restriction so that if you happen to have a Roseville Service Unit timetable with the Fresno Sub in it, you might be able to follow me along a little bit better. I wish I could give everybody a timetable that wanted one. I'm sure it would make things easier to follow.

Anyway, here are our restrictions:

20MPH between MP206.5 and MP206.75 on #1 Track
25MPH between MP209 and MP209.1 on #1 Track
60MPH between MP217 and MP219
40MPH between MP217.3 and MP217.4
60MPH between MP222.3 and MP222.4
45MPH between MP227.25 and MP227.30
40MPH between MP228.1 and MP228.4
40MPH between MP232.7 and MP232.7
20MPH between MP232.9 and MP232.9
40MPH between MP238.4 and MP238.6
25MPH between MP239.6 and MP239.8
40MPH between MP268.5 and MP268.75
40MPH between MP274.5 and MP274.6
25MPH between MP281.45 and MP281.55
40MPH between MP282.3 and MP282.4
40MPH between MP285.4 and MP286.25
40MPH between MP287.6 and MP287.8
40MPH between MP292.3 and MP292.4

Okay...Here we go!

We have to stop at Clinton Avenue, MP201.8, while we wait for the MRVFR, the UP3317, to shove into the yard and clear both main tracks. Remember, it's double track from Biola Jct., MP197.2, all the way to the BNSF interlocking at Calwa at MP208.9. He (actually, she) clears both main tracks, we line the switches back and we take off. We have been delayed for 4 minutes. It is now 350AM.

As soon as we get back up to track speed, which is 40MPH, we have to slow down for our next speed restriction, which is 20, at MP206.5, which is just north of Van Ness Avenue for a soft spot in the track. Our next signal is at Church Avenue, MP207.1, and ABS signal 2072 displays a flashing yellow aspect. We are going to get held at the BNSF interlocking, which seems to be normal for all the UP trains. We go by the approach to the interlocking at signal 2082, which is yellow, and the interlocking signal lights up red. We stop at the 500 foot board short of the signal at 408AM and wait.

At 417AM we see a southbound BNSF coil steel train creep through the interlocking. He must be coming out of the yard because he is moving so slow. He finally clears at 421AM.

Next comes a southbound BNSF stack train through the interlocking. We saw the rear end of his train as we were coming to a stop at the interlocking. The BNSF and our tracks parallel each other for a short distance. He must have been making a crew change while we were coming to a stop. He clears at 429AM.

Now I can see a headlight coming towards us from about Sunmaid. It must be time for the northbound ZLCBR-04, the UP3875 north with Tom Shuck at the throttle with conductor Karl Bunting. Karl has only been on this pool for a few weeks after bidding off of the West Colton pool. He clears the plant at 433AM. Are we ever going to get out of here?

Finally, at 434AM we get a green signal. The normal speed across the diamond is 30 but we have a 25MPH restriction at the switch at the end of double track, MP 209. We finally clear and we try to get up to our maximum speed of 60.

Our next speed restriction is between MP217 and MP219 for 60MPH and starts at the south switch of Goble. But because we are already restricted to 60 we don't worry about it. But we do have a 40MPH restriction at an industry switch 3/10 of a mile from Goble. That one we do worry about.

We clear that one and we get back up to 60 where we have another 60MPH restriction (bad tie condition) starting at the north switch at Sunmaid, MP 222.3, which is where all of the raisins come from. They say (who is "they"?) that Sunmaid is the raisin capitol of the world but I don't know if they are or not. I just know I like their raisins.

We blast by the old SP depot at Kingsburg at 60 at 457AM. I sure wish "they", whoever "they" are, would do something with that depot. I think the city of Kingsburg wants to do something with it but I'm not sure. I'm sure money is the problem. As far as I'm concerned, that depot is an SP classic.

Leaving Kingsburg we have to slow down to 45 for the bridge over the Kings River at MP227.25. They have been working on it for about 2 weeks now. I wish they's get finished with it. Then it's down to 40MPH by the Highway 99 rest area, near Avenue 384, for 3/10 of a mile for another tie condition.

Our next restriction is at the south switch at Traver, MP232.7 but righ after that, at MP232.9, we have a 20MPH restriction. This doesn't make sense to me. But it doesn't have to. I'm just a hoghead. Fortunately we are still on green signals.

Approaching Goshen Junction we have a 40MPH restriction between MP238.4 and MP238.6, at the crossover. They were just replacing this crossover yesterday while we were on our way north. Then the restriction was 10MPH. It is now 519AM. These restrictions are playing hell with our running time. We also have a 25MPH restriction between MP239.6 and MP239.8, the south switch at Goshen. They have been working on that switch too.

We are pretty much clear of restrictions for a while. Our next on is at MP268.5 at Pixley but that's another 28 miles ahead.

We go through downtown Tulare (two-LARRY) making 60 and we clear the south end of town at 534AM. We have about 63 miles to go and we've been on duty for about 7 1/2 hours. Not one of my better trips. We should be coming into Bakersfield as we speak. I'm just hoping we can make double track at Bakersfield before the ZLCSE, the sacred cow, gets to Bakersfield. We'll see.

They have changed dispatchers at 500AM, our time, in Omaha. Now we have KJS. She might not be the best dispatcher around but at least she lets you know what's going on. She doesn't treat you like a mushroom.

After leaving Tulare, we go by signal 2586, which displays a flashing yellow aspect. Time to get the train down to 40MPH. Looks like we will be taking the siding at Tipton, which is a 10MPH siding. The time is 544AM.

We enter the siding at Tipton at 548AM. It's going to take a while to get in the clear with 6638 feet of train. Way, way off in the distance I think I can see a headlight. The morning sky is starting to get lighter. Soon the sun will be almost staring me in the face. We stop at the south end of the siding. It is now 557AM. We hear the hot box detector go off at MP267.7. It says 50MPH and 188 axles. It must be the loaded cement train that goes to the Port of Stockton from Mojave. A few minutes later, the UP 4402 rolls by with Ronnie Lee at the throttle. He has the cement train, the RMJST-04. He clears and we get a signal at 613AM. I'm starting to get tired. Bobsey is tired too. He hasn't said hardly anything since leaving Fresno. I know he's still awake because he is not a "sleeper" on the engine. I like that.

We take off and get back up to 60. We parallel California State Highway 99 for about 90% of the trip from Lathrop. The early morning traffic is starting to get heavier. I'm tired of the truckers and some of the cars flashing their headlights at me to dim my headlight and ditchlights. Sorry people, no can do.

We go by another yellow flag for a 25MPH restriction at downtown Delano at MP281.45. The MofW department is in the process of installing those cement crossing pads at First Aveneue. That crossing always was a rough one.

Then we have a 40MPH restriction at the north end of the siding at Delfar. This siding got its name because it is half way between the cities of Delano and McFarland. Simple, isn't it.

We leave Delfar and continue south. We go by signal 2874, which dislays a flashing yellow. Looks like we are going to go into the siding at Famoso, which is another 10MPH siding. It's now 654AM.

We start to head in the 10MPH siding at Famoso at 700AM. The sun is staring at me from the left. I'm tired and so is Bobsey. I can see his eyes starting to blink at a slow pace. It must be very boring sitting on that side of the cab. I feel for him.

Siting on the main track is the UP4809, the MWCWP-04, with Roger Goldberg at the throttle. Years ago Roger and I use to work at together at West Colton when he was a switchman. He's just as good of a hoghead as he was a switchman. We had lots of fun working together. He calls me on the radio and tells me that the ZLCSE is right behind him. I can see his headlight as the train is coming out of Slater. We stop at 708AM

I get in the clear, Roger leaves, and the ZLCSE shows up with the UP9747 in the lead. Fortunately you don't see too many GE's on this train but today 3 out of the 4 are GE's. The lonely SD70m is the third unit back. I wish they would keep these GE's off of this train. This time the engineer is Glen Gallington. His dad was an engineer too. When I went back to my seniority in 1984, Glen's dad, Tom, took my place in Bakersfield. He retired shortly thereafter and died about 6 months ago.

At 716AM we get a green signal to come out of the siding. We were non-stop to the end of double track at Bakersfield, a distance of about 18 miles.

We stop at double track at 745AM, switch our radio channel from 96-96 to 14-14 and call dispatcher 54 to see when the outbound crew is on duty. The crew is not on duty until 745AM. I have never figured out why these dispatchers can never put the outbound crews on duty BEFORE we get to Bakersfield, not WHEN we get to Bakersfield. This doesn't happen when I get on a train at Bakersfield going north. We are usually on duty about 30 minutes before the train is due into Bakersfield. That way we have time to get our train lists, track bulletins, look to see if there are any new general orders, and just shoot the breeze with the guys that are in the yard office. I guess this takes planning and thinking on the part of the dispatchers or corridor managers.

Anyway, we sit out there for about 45 minutes and wait for the crew to get ready. The crew is finally ready and we get a signal and proceed to the yard off, which is two miles away, and stop in front of the yard office at 845AM. We go off duty at 905AM.

So, to sum up the trip, we were on duty for 11 hours, went 230 miles (236 if we started from Stockton) and made 1 hour overtime. The trip paid me, not that I'm bragging, a total of $393.36. 230 miles paid me $315.74, 1 hour overtime paid $32.62, two meal allowances paid $12.00 (for my layover at Lathrop), $5.00 for engineer certification (whatever that is supposed to mean), and $28.00 for babysitting "Pebbles." You notice I didn't mention him very much during the trip. All he ever wanted to do was play games on his cell phone and talk to his buddies on his cell phone. Not once did he ever ask a question or show any kind of interest in being an engineer. Just before we got to Fresno he went back to the rear unit because he said his seat was too uncomfortable. That didn't bother me or Bobsey. He's not going to make it as an engineer, in my opinion.

So, that's the way things are on my pool. I hope you enjoyed reading about a day in the life of a pool engineer. I really did enjoy writing it even though it took me a very long time. I still think it was worth it. I hope you think it was too.

Maybe I'll write another story about some of my other trips I've had in my career but they won't be as long as this one was. But I can almost guarantee they will be just as interesting.

steamjocky

See my prvious message under "Part 2" and I would tend to agree with you on you thoughts about students...

Steamjocky Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sorry I haven't post part 3 sooner. I'm trying to
> recover from my last trip. It was very strange.
>


Strange? Good. Strange trips make for interesting stories.

----stash

Thank you for taking the time to write your most interesting account. Please consider writing future trips, especially those of an "interesting" nature.

That was the most interesting post I have read on this site. Thanks so much for sharing! I hope you do again.

Stan Praisewater

Hey Steamjocky,
Just remember, you could work at a place (or worked at a place) where it took you 11'59" to go 19.5 miles and get paid $100 LOL

Very good story. If I made the trip with you I would have shown some interest. But Uncle Pete doesn't see things that way.

choochoodriver Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey Steamjocky,
> Just remember, you could work at a place (or
> worked at a place) where it took you 11'59" to go
> 19.5 miles and get paid $100 LOL

Hmmm...you don't suppose that this place might be an ex-SP branch line, do you? A place that has a couple of F units, an ex-SP ALCO RS-32, an ex-SP ALCO S6, and a steam locomotive that's in about 10,749 pieces. Could this be the place you're talking about? If it is, I'm quite familiar with it. LOL

steamjocky

grande473 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Very good story. If I made the trip with you I
> would have shown some interest. But Uncle Pete
> doesn't see things that way.

I can guarantee that if you had shown some interest you probably would have been in the right hand seat most of the way. If a guy doesn't mind learning, I don't mind teaching.

steamjocky

Sounds exactly like the place. I guess we both can say--been there, done that.
Oh how silly of me to forget the semi dry "comp" TRI-TIP sandwich Hehe

And you know what "Deb" would have called Pebbles --------> 'a bail of hay'!

Some excellent non-fiction there John!

Earlier this evening I found a "short story" you sent me last year; remember the time you had a 220+ car train (all empties) and the 2 U33C's (no air conditioning, of course)? Think that should be repeated for all to read on TO...

How 'bout it??

Allen

BTW, yes I remember that wreck out at Wash in 1977(?)...

An excellent read.......thanks for posting!!!!!

I think that Todd should set up a board for "RR Non-Fiction".
Any Seconds??

DaveL

bradleymckay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Some excellent non-fiction there John!
>
> Earlier this evening I found a "short story" you
> sent me last year; remember the time you had a
> 220+ car train (all empties) and the 2 U33C's (no
> air conditioning, of course)? Think that should
> be repeated for all to read on TO...
>
> How 'bout it??
>
> Allen
>
> BTW, yes I remember that wreck out at Wash in
> 1977(?)...

Allen,

That trip was from Yuma to West Colton in the summer. I just remember that it was very hot. I'm not sure of the year. Maybe 1974 or '75.

Like you said, we had a bunch of empties, 211 I think, and we were about 11,000 feet long with two U33C's. Every time we met an eastbound train, we took the siding even if the eastbound got there first and was waiting for us! I asked the dispatcher why we always took the siding. He told me that if the other train was on the main for the meet, even if he was stopped, the dispatcher didn't have to show any delay for that train. Where is the logic in that statement?

As we went into the siding at Thousand Palms, I asked the dispatcher if this is where we were going to get our helper. He said he didn't think we needed a helper with all of the empties we had. I told him we had over 200 cars and over 6,000 tons. He said he would get back to us.

He called a little bit later and said that a helper was called for us. I figured we'd be there forever! It was so hot you could not touch the armrests outside the window on the locomotive without getting burned. Fortunately, we had lots of water and paper towels to try and keep cool. In those days, we had 3-gallon glass bottles for the water cooler. We had two extra bottles.

About four hours later, the helper showed up. He had 3 units so we had to cut him in about 30 cars or so from the caboose instead of putting him behind the caboose. After he got cut into the train, I just put the train in emergency to make our air test and to make sure we got a good release on the brakes when we left. Sitting at Thousand Palms in that heat was a killer. I thought I was going to get a heat stroke. And, like you said, no air conditioning.

When I finally got home that night, I turned on the news in time to listen to the weather. It said that the hot spot in the nation was Thousand Palms, CA. with a temperature of 110! No wonder I thought I was going to die! How we survived the summers in those day is beyond me. I have no idea how the guys survived the summers in the steam days. I think that would be worse. I don't think I could have survived being in engine service back in those days. Those guys were tough.

steamjocky

Steamjocky Wrote:
> I have no idea
> how the guys survived the summers in the steam
> days. I think that would be worse. I don't think
> I could have survived being in engine service back
> in those days. Those guys were tough.
>
> steamjocky
>
I think diesels are hotter than steam engines, as there is more air movement thru a steamer's cab, and they're wood interior isn't as uncomfortable to the touch.

In cold weather, however....

MTMEngineer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> >
> I think diesels are hotter than steam engines, as
> there is more air movement thru a steamer's cab,
> and they're wood interior isn't as uncomfortable
> to the touch.
>
> In cold weather, however....
>
Yes, you do have a point, don't you. I never thought of it that way.

steamjocky

I remember Del Griffin (Westend Herder - "I got the air, power, and whistle on track . . .") once told of how miserably hot it got in Bakersfield yard working with the steam switchers in the 50's. They would get handkerchiefs/towels and soak them in the water jug to tie around the mouths/noses to get the air cooler so as not to burn their throats/lungs. An old retired engineer used to come and sit under the Bakersfield yardmaster's tower just next to the old herder's shanty and tell us "about the good old days" of steam on the Valley and to Los Angeles. He also said the same thing about the heat in the steam cabs being almost unbearable in the summer (you couldn't hang your head out window the entire trip) and how they also used towels/rags soaked in water to get a cooler breath of air. I want to say his name was Hiney Bock (or something similar) but that was over 20 years ago the last time I saw him (he was in his late 70s or early 80's at the time). Didn't miss steam at all after hearing his stories :-)

FS

Steamjocky Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> MTMEngineer Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > >
> > I think diesels are hotter than steam
> engines, as
> > there is more air movement thru a steamer's
> cab,
> > and they're wood interior isn't as
> uncomfortable
> > to the touch.
> >
> > In cold weather, however....
> >
> Yes, you do have a point, don't you. I never
> thought of it that way.
>
> steamjocky
>
>
>
I remember escorting the 4449 from Yuma to West Colton Yuma in August and Tex asking me when I got back how I had enjoyed a taste of "the good ol' days", I nearly passed out at Indio and Bobby Baker refused to get off of the diesel helper to aim Doyle in the right direction!

Bill

Hey Brakey,

One of these days I may have to sit down and tell some stories about our adventures (or mis-adventures) out on the desert floor as a gang of RFE's looking to shoot up the neighborhood after one of us suffered a flat tire around the corner from your house! Or maybe not...

Great story though, keep up the good work.

Bill

Feds Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey Brakey,
>
> One of these days I may have to sit down and tell
> some stories about our adventures (or
> mis-adventures) out on the desert floor as a gang
> of RFE's looking to shoot up the neighborhood
> after one of us suffered a flat tire around the
> corner from your house! Or maybe not...
>
> Great story though, keep up the good work.
>
> Bill

WRD,

I wish you would tell a story about our RFE days. They were quite funny and interesting. I'm sure everybody would enjoy them.

I almost forgot about that flat tire. I'm surprised you remembered that. I'll bet CEH wouldn't remember that.

I'd like for you to relate to the readers the story about you, CEH, and Jim Dutton at Dike (you gotta timetable?). I'm laughing just thinking about it.

What ever happened to FAM-DRFE?

steamjocky