Railroaders' Nostalgia > One Quick Lesson

Shortly after the startup of Conrail operating personnel from the railroads that formed Conrail would soon be working together. I had one such occurrence working on an extra yard job. 
I was the Engineer former Penn Central and the rest of the yard crew were Erie Lackawanna. The Conductor  named  Tony (now retired six years) has a bad case of OCD of which I can tell many stories. I think this was the first time we had worked together.

The extra yard job was in Corning, NY in the former PC (NYC) Corning Yard which sits on a grade. This required all tracks to have sufficient hand brakes at the southend. When switching cars it was like a mini hump without the hump. All you need most of the time was the slack to pull the pins and the cars would roll into the tracks. Half the time the Brakeman would be riding the cars to control their speed with handbrakes.

Over the years many yard tracks were removed and we were down to about four in the North Yard and three in the South Yard. If you had lots to switch it was easiest to take a huge drag if you had the power to pull north. This one day I ended up using three six axle units for our power. 
One thing I did learn working with Tony he  was a perfectionist  even switching cars. He unlike many Conductors when kicking cars plan on where to make cuts so when you stop you are clear of the next switch or switches that need to be handled. This saves the forward and back up movements and time. It made the Engineers job easier and he was one of the best working in the yard. This  one day I ended up using three six axle units for our power. The first drag had about sixty cars with no air on them,

Kicking sixty cars on a downgrade with three six axle units I took care as soon as Tony told me to stop to let the slack out. After about two kicks and running past the switch Tony yelled "When I tell you to stop I want you to Stop" my reply was "OK". Next kick he said STOP I slapped the independent brake on full and I stopped. Tony yelled again to stop I said I'm. Next he said to ease back and he ended up changing out a knuckle. Picked up the missed switched cars and finished the job.

From that day forward to the time he retired we worked together for close to thirty five years and he never told me how to run an engine again. Had many good trips and when we got someone new on the crew he would bring it up not to tell him how to run a train.   That's all it took one quick lesson.
  

PCCRNSEngr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Shortly after the startup of Conrail operating
> personnel from the railroads that formed Conrail
> would soon be working together. I had one such
> occurrence working on an extra yard job. 
> I was the Engineer former Penn Central and the
> rest of the yard crew were Erie Lackawanna. The
> Conductor  named  Tony (now retired six years)
> has a bad case of OCD of which I can tell many
> stories. I think this was the first time we had
> worked together.
>
> The extra yard job was in Corning, NY in the
> former PC (NYC) Corning Yard which sits on a
> grade. This required all tracks to have sufficient
> hand brakes at the southend. When switching cars
> it was like a mini hump without the hump. All you
> need most of the time was the slack to pull the
> pins and the cars would roll into the tracks. Half
> the time the Brakeman would be riding the cars to
> control their speed with handbrakes.
>
> Over the years many yard tracks were removed and
> we were down to about four in the North Yard and
> three in the South Yard. If you had lots to switch
> it was easiest to take a huge drag if you had the
> power to pull north. This one day I ended up using
> three six axle units for our power. 
> One thing I did learn working with Tony he  was a
> perfectionist  even switching cars. He unlike
> many Conductors when kicking cars plan on where to
> make cuts so when you stop you are clear of the
> next switch or switches that need to be handled.
> This saves the forward and back up movements and
> time. It made the Engineers job easier and he was
> one of the best working in the yard. This  one
> day I ended up using three six axle units for our
> power. The first drag had about sixty cars with no
> air on them,
>
> Kicking sixty cars on a downgrade with three six
> axle units I took care as soon as Tony told me to
> stop to let the slack out. After about two kicks
> and running past the switch Tony yelled "When I
> tell you to stop I want you to Stop" my reply was
> "OK". Next kick he said STOP I slapped the
> independent brake on full and I stopped. Tony
> yelled again to stop I said I'm. Next he said to
> ease back and he ended up changing out a knuckle.
> Picked up the missed switched cars and finished
> the job.
>
> From that day forward to the time he retired we
> worked together for close to thirty five years and
> he never told me how to run an engine again. Had
> many good trips and when we got someone new on the
> crew he would bring it up not to tell him how to
> run a train.   That's all it took one quick
> lesson.
>


One quick lesson and a 70 pound knuckle!

hey PC the southern tier always interested me ... keep the stories coming ... how many tracks were part of Gangs Mills yard before they ripped out most of them and about what time period did that take place ...

thankX

Posted from Android