Railroaders' Nostalgia > It's me or the railroad!

We've all heard this before, in one incarnation or another... any good stories?

Yup, once my pension was paidup, 35 years,  my wife and daughter told me "either you leave the railway or you are leaving". I figured retirement was a better deal and a heck of a lot cheaper than a divorce.   Doug

I married fairly late in life, so my wife knew the situation beforehand.  Fortunately, I had enough seniority to hold a job with semi-regular hours, so it was never a big problem.

But on the other hand, a lot of guys told them,  "Don't let those doors hit you, where the good lord split you, on the way out."

Every terminal I have worked out of is the same. The gals play during the summer and then look for a place to stay warm in the winter.

It was called The   ................. Shuffle.  (Insert the station name.)


Nudge

Like I told my ex...guys like me would have an easier time replacing them than replacing my railroad job.

i divorced 20 years ago after 20 years of marriage but if we were still together i know she wudda never gave an ultimatum as such ... but there wouldn't have been a problem anyway i wudda went out as soon as i could ...

Posted from Android

Geez, reading the title, I thought you were talking about ultimatums for MODEL railroaders!

More seriously, though, there are quite a few job descriptions out there that pose similar problems.   Back when I was working in exploration, a typical work period was 10 days straight, 4 days off, with any travel (hundreds of miles typically) happening on your time.  So it was more like 12 on, 2 off.  It took one hell of a toll on your personal life.  I couldn't even keep house plants, except for succulents and cactus.  And after 12 days out, my girlfriend was only a little bit less prickly than those...

Our Alaska guys had to deal with a really short field season so for them it was more like 90 days straight, with minimal communications available.  I remember we transferred 10 geologists up to Anchorage in 1979.  Two years later, not one of them was still married or in the relationship that they started with.  You had to REALLY like the work and the money.

But at least we had the winter off.  Railroaders had to deal with this all 365.

Given a thorough financial analysis, including internal rates of return and weighted average cost of capital,  I had a boss tell me it was cheaper to pay for an escort than get married:  either way you pay for it... LOL



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/18/15 14:23 by BurtNorton.

No way I can participate in this thread without getting in significant trouble.   

I'm still working.  

R

 I guess I was lucky.  Not once in my career did my wife eever say her or th railroad.







V

SLOCONDR