Railroaders' Nostalgia > Vince the Godfather Christmas story

Reading the story about Vince made me laugh. He is one of the best people you will ever meet. After getting promoted to engineer in feb of 79 I was cut back firing and went to work the coast pool from LA to SLO. I caught my first trip with Vince but this time he put me in the seat to run. He hovered over me and let me know how much I did not know. It was question after question and what I thought was a little rough. Afetr we made it to SLO I thought it was over. Next day we went back down the coast and it got a little easier. After tying up in LA I figured the odds of catching him again were slim so went home and vented to my wife. 2 days later here we go again. What were the odds ? This happened for the next 3 round trips. After a bit we started to like each other and the things he taught me were later proven to be pure gold when things got tough over the next 35 years. He taught me to run deep in the seat and by the seat of your pants ! No dynamics ? Who cares ! Speedometer ? Thats for sissies ! Dynamiter ? Fog ? Storms ? Testing teams ? Big deal ! Later on a few months later a certain crew dispatcher saw me and said " How was your finishing school ? Vince had somehow " arranged " to keep me hostage on the pool with him until he thought I was ready to be turned out ! He probably kept me safer than any other person on the RR. We are still very close and attached are 2 pictures from when he and Dorothy came up last Christmas to visit our horses . He brought a 50 pound bag of carrots and we kept several for our 2 guys and took the rest over to the equestrian center to share a Chritmas treat from the Santa Godfather to about 40 other horses.
The best part of my RR career was meeting people like Vince and Dorothy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/27/21 14:43 by switchlamp.

I downloaded a video of an SP crew going up the coast quite a while ago, before the SP-UP hookup and the engineer looked a lot like the fellow in the pictures. In the video, the engineer wore what looked like sleeve protectors...they were black...and seemed like a very nice guy. I wonder if he is the same one?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/20/12 22:31 by a737flyer.

Nice story Tom. Thanks for posting the pictures!


Allen

The first photo is captioned.. "are you an SD40 or SD45?"

switchlamp Wrote:
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.
> The best part of my RR career was meeting people
> like Vince and Dorothy.

Same here Tom.....

V

SLOCONDR

One question Tom...Who won the argument, Vince or your horse?...Looks like a stand-off. Only the Godfather would try to talk horse sense to a horse...LOL!

Hi Jeff;
That is my wifes horse. She got him real young and broke him. He is a very dominant alfa horse and can size a person up in one glance. He will stand his ground and fight if need be. He chased off a bobcat on the trail once. When he walks around the song 'Bad to the Bone' plays. She was hesitant to give the rope to Vince but when Vince says to do something you know it is right. Vince pulled Frosty close and they stared each other eye to eye for a moment and Frosty lowered his head and sighed out a big snort and knew Vince was the Alpha in this herd !
Take care,
Tom

Vince knows how to handle horsepower, look how he's holding the rope. Looks like he's notching out the throttle.

Vince still looks like he could run a engine at 85

WAF Wrote:
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> Vince still looks like he could run a engine at 85


Believe me, Wes, he DEFINITELY could!!


V

SLOCONDR

Not only could he, but he does...
A few months ago Vince was called off the "Retirement Board" to work in "emergency" (his words) on some shortline up in Northern California. I'm thinking the McCloud River...not really sure. But he has a great story about trying to work with a piece of sh*t engine, in the rain, with no working sanders, and a brakeman, who didn't have a radio...told only as the Godfather could...I was in stiches!

spengr80 Wrote:
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> Not only could he, but he does...
> A few months ago Vince was called off the
> "Retirement Board" to work in "emergency" (his
> words) on some shortline up in Northern
> California. I'm thinking the McCloud River...not
> really sure. But he has a great story about
> trying to work with a piece of sh*t engine, in the
> rain, with no working sanders, and a brakeman, who
> didn't have a radio...told only as the Godfather
> could...I was in stiches!

spengr80,
Ask Vince about some of his experiences qualifying some
of the guys down at the Carrizo Gorge Railway!
I was qualified by Vince when I worked for CZRY and he
had a lot of Great stories to tell!!!!!
Post some of responses!
Mike

I don't know which is the better story, the engineering lessons or the alpha show down.

This story made me smile, thanks for telling it...

Posted from iPhone

jdtravis Wrote:
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> I don't know which is the better story, the
> engineering lessons or the alpha show down.

Vince won that showdown, and took the carrots.

The photo rings a bell; I believe I met him in Chatsworth. Were were in the weeds finding an optimal location to photograph the 4449 returning from New Orleans. I didn't know that he was an engineer until a few months later, when I spied him in the right seat of an eastbound in Oxnard.
...Lorenzo

A wonderful story about leadership, setting a good example and helping others; doing the right thing.

Vince and the late Carl Ragoza were my two all-time favorite SP guys...

I have known Vince and Dorothy for over 40 years. Unfortunately , Dorothy passed away last week due to a long illness. A few guys did not like Vince... if you listened to him he would teach the right way to do things. Especially tipping a grade such Vincent or Tehachapi.. he taught us to tip the grade about 7 mph under the posted speed. gather up your slack and go into dynamic brake..and use as little air as you can.. in other words "Set the table before you sit down to eat"// Words that I have always lived by and passed onto other young runners. Other words of wisdom.. you never laugh at the poor guy that is in trouble because one day it is your turn to be in deep crap. Never go home without a souvenir . when you are on final terminal take your time and open up the cash register... He taught me how to run a passenger train with the old heavyweight SP business cars on the rear... taught me how to fire a steam engine.. I am proud to call him my friend..