Railroaders' Nostalgia > Embarrassing Moments in History

After arriving at Indio, CA on the MSE (Merchandise, hot shot Eastbound out of the S.P. Shops in Los Angeles) I made my way to the Towers Hotel, the usual tie-up location for engine crews in Indio, mainly because it had a full kitchen for use by the crews, a large table in the middle of the dining room used mainly to sit around and tell each other what great "Hogheads" we were. In reality the old heads used the table to play a card game called "Pan", or to just shoot the bull until they all figured it was time to hit the rack and get some rest before getting called back out. We had a caller that would come over to the hotel and give us our calls for work after we were rested, I had seen Mike before I went to bed and he told me to sleep fast, not a lot of crews and a load of East bounds coming at us at Indio.

I ate dinner with a couple of old heads at the Mexican joint down the street and discovered that both of them had tied up for rest and that I would be first out on my rest. I finished eating and headed back to the Towers and hit the sack. At almost exactly 6 and 1/2 hours later, there was a lively rap on the hotel door, and Mikes voice. Since spending almost 3 years in South Vietnam, I was in the habit of sleeping in the buff and on top of the sheets and covers. I bounded out of bed and threw open the door to surprise Mike, who was standing in my fully opened door along with the 20 year old young lady who was training with Mike to take over the callers job later that week! I thought the poor girl would faint but she kept her cool, turned completely around, spoke my name and gave me my time on duty, train I.D. and the name of the conductor I would be working with back to Los Angeles, Mike also stood there, mumbled a few words, turned beet red (almost as red as I was)and tried to assure the young lady that things like this just didn't happen when he was working...until then. Odd thing was that I never saw the woman again and Mike was still on the job as call boy until I bid back onto a local in Los Angeles.

I did get a lot of ribbing from this one, Mike spread it out all over Indio and to any Los Angeles crew that would listen.

Just another day in the life of a rail.

SOB

You must have convinced her to find another profession or bid on another job

There's no shame in a man's game! Well played, sir!

There was a female caller in Roseville in the late 70's who gave calls to the crews staying in the "mods" at Roseville ("Stalag 245") with her back to the door. I asked someone why she did this and was told there was a certain Tracy engineer who would throw the door open with nothing more on than he was born with and he did this with her one time thoroughly embarrassing her. After that she would always turn her back to the door after knocking and when she heard the door open she'd say what needed to be said and would move on.

Really funny, SOB.

Well now that's one I didn't know about you.


V

SLOCONDR

In all of the 40+ years I've known you, you have never told me that story. But I now understand why. Good story, my friend.

JDE

Reminds me of the "exotic dancer" whose stage name was Bertha Daye Sootz.

We had several lady callers in Yuma back in the days of the modules. That kind of thing used to happen all the time, (according to them).

Have always slept in the raw and nudity never bothered me. Hell, if you have been in the service you know what I mean. It never bothered me to answer the door at the Mods but if it was a gal, I would stand behind the door so she wouldn't be embarrassed. (I could have told myself it was because she would fall in lust for me but who is kidding who.)

Oh, sex did run parts of the railroad at times but that is another story.

Nudge

When I worked as a trackman for Illinois Central Gulf in the early 70s, female trainmen (trainpersons?) were just beginning to enter service. I worked at Kensington, South Chicago, and got to and from my job on the IC Electric trains. A female trainman worked my usual afternoon train, she wasn't bad looking, and so I started a conversation with her one day (she knew I was an employee by my yellow hard hat, work gloves, and layer of dirt).

I asked her how long she had been in TY&E service, and what she did before that. She said, without batting an eye, "I was a call girl". That was a conversation stopper until I figured it out.

She later got promoted to engineer, but lost her license when she ran a red home signal. Lots of comments on the railroad about "women drivers" after that.

Things like that happen today. Every once in a while the hotel maids think we check out and come knocking on the door. I know a few rails that have answered the door that way.

Railbaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There was a female caller in Roseville in the late
> 70's who gave calls to the crews staying in the
> "mods" at Roseville ("Stalag 245") with her back
> to the door. I asked someone why she did this and
> was told there was a certain Tracy engineer who
> would throw the door open with nothing more on
> than he was born with and he did this with her one
> time thoroughly embarrassing her. After that she
> would always turn her back to the door after
> knocking and when she heard the door open she'd
> say what needed to be said and would move on.

I wonder if that Tracy hog was Kessler - he was also famous for farting into the radio, among other things.