Railroaders' Nostalgia > Foggy run-around memories

The heavy fog this Saturday-past brought back some unforgettable memories of a gloomy train ride back in the summer of 1979. I was on a westbound waycar in the wee hours en route to Newton, KS. My crew had gone on duty about 2 in the morning (give or take). With some late block-switching and a mandatory air test from the car toads we didn’t actually get out of Emporia yard until well after 3 AM. There was a touch of fog in the air, but if you knew where to look you could make out certain landmarks as the waycar rolled along through the darkness. Approaching Florence, KS I could hear tell-tale air brake noise coming from the trainline. Sure enough we slowed to what seemed to be the siding turnout speed of 30 MPH. Over the radio we heard the news that we were “there for number #4 & another one, and possibly number #15”. (Yes Virginia, Amtrak’s Lone Star was still alive & kickin’ that summer.) The dispatcher’s tone of voice told my very seasoned conductor that Sand Creek (Newton’s yard) was probably experiencing some temporary capacity quandary and didn’t need our long & low-ranking 304 train to arrive too soon and clog up matters.

As we took the siding I could see the dim headlight of an eastbound coal train waiting patiently on the main. The DS must have been watching us like a hawk, because as soon as his board had shown our waycar to be in the clear at the east switch the coal train got a favorable signal. And that eastbound hogger certainly wasted no time! He commenced to “reefing” mighty hard on his throttle. We ground to a lazy stop as just as 12,000+ horsepower growled by. In the darkness I could tell their lead unit was an SD-45 by the flared radiator, but I couldn’t accurately identify the 3 trailing units in that heavy air. Another EMD and a couple of GEs, most likely C30-7s went past, followed by the heavy uniform rhythm of loaded coal cars.

While we waited for the second train I got down out of the cupola and struck up a conversation with my conductor. Richard Spencer was always an amiable sort, very friendly to talk to. Especially with new green-horns like me. I had been working just over a year, at the time. I watched him fill out the delay report with cryptic notes describing the coal train we had just met. I asked him why he didn’t just go ahead and fill in #4, the eastbound Southwest Limited. His was a simple explanation: “Kid, ya never want to fill out an item on your delay report until AFTER it’s a done-deal.” (That turned out to be a solid piece of RR tutelage that would save me much hand-written grief throughout my entire career.)

What seemed like an eternity went by and we finally heard our head-end crew radio a greeting to the approaching varnish. I got ready to get down on the ground and give them a roll by. Richard looked like he was about to say something when our waycar suddenly jerked into forward motion. I believe our engineer had stopped a ways back from the west switch and was now anticipating a green light to leave. So I went out on the back platform to watch #4 rush by. Zhhrumm- Zhhrummm, zip- zip- zip- zip- zip- zip- zip- zip- zip, ca-ting, ca-ting, ca-ting: [gradually fading away into the darkness]. Reset to the silent oppression of foggy surroundings. (If you’ve never experienced the sudden cacophony & foggy, but audible egress of a passenger train at track speed while standing just a few feet away on the back platform of a Santa Fe waycar, you should really try it some time! I promise you won’t be disappointed… ;^)

Meanwhile the forward motion of our waycar had gradually evaporated. We now knew we we’re going to be stuck for #15, which was just out of Emporia and would have to meet #4 someplace (probably Strong City). More idle chatter (read: numbskull questions) from a green brakeman was interspersed with learned dialog from an old-head Santa Fe conductor. I probably ran the risk of driving Richard to distraction, but I was still excited with my kinda-sorta new employment as a brakeman. I wanted to learn everything, and I wanted to learn it all NOW-dontcha know… It seemed a lot longer, but less than an hour later we finally caught the faint, but unmistakable horn of an Amtrak 500 cutting through the gloomy air. The eastern sky exhibited the quickly expanding glow from a headlight and again I got ready to hit the ballast for a roll-by. This time Richard intercepted my intentions and said he preferred that I would stay on the waycar. I didn’t argue, but the look on my face prompted his explanation: With the foggy atmosphere I was very unlikely to SEE anything wrong with my eyes that I couldn’t hear with my ears. He added that there was also the possible [but fleeting] risk of a fast passenger train causing something disagreeable to human health go flying through the air. Aha. Ok, that’s makes sense. So once more I just stood on the back platform and soaked in some RR flavor.*

My photo below has nothing to do with meeting any trains, but the foggy shroud shown in it sure brought back some poignant 35 year-old memories. Enjoy…

1. At just shy of 8 AM BNSF 745 glides through the gloom at Ellinor, KS on November 22, 2014.

Thanks for listening!
Lance Garrels
santafe199

(*There were SO many incidents & experiences in my 32 year RR career where I had to pinch myself and think: Ho, mannn!! I’m really getting paid for this…)



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/14 01:14 by santafe199.

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Lance, Thank you so much for these great stories and photos. Please keep them coming.

KR

As they say, there are only two kinds of people: Those of you who had a career on the railroad and those of us who wish we had. Lance, I really enjoy your writing style. You could have had a writing career, but then you would be with us . . . wishing.

donnerpass Wrote: > ... really enjoy your writing style.
That's a very kind compliment, and I thank you! I seem to be saddled with these memories & stories that just keep popping into my mind, and I have put my 2 (count-'em TWO) typing fingers to work!

> You could have had a writing career...
I'm not so sure about that. Between you 'n me 'n the fencepost: I absolutely HATED English Lit during my senior year in high school. My teacher only gave me a D- because she "knew I could have passed if I'd have WANTED to". And that was an essential credit for getting the old diploma. (true story) I'd love to be able to thank her today, but I've no doubt she's long passed on. I'd like to think I'm now paying the penance I owe her by writing these anecdotes & tales for TO. Maybe she's up there lurking... ;^)

Lance