Railroaders' Nostalgia > Hiding out at night

Anyone in train or yard service can tell you there are a gazillion stories involving the RR workplace and the characters who work there. And they range from extremely hair-raising to just plain hilarious. One legendary story that seems to come in many different versions throughout the RR industry involves a switch crew who tried to hide out one night deep in the bowels of some huge yard. The scenario is this: The switch engine drifts down some empty track to a spot more or less out of sight. A deck of cards is brought out, shuffled a few times and a card game begins with all the usual chatter. Of course, some of that er… lively chatter may not be exactly compatible when in the presence of otherwise polite society. What’s not known to the crew is that somehow the engine’s radio button has stuck down, and the entire episode is broadcast to every receiving radio within range…

In all honestly my image below is not indicative of the tale I just related. It’s just a routine, available light time exposure I took in 1978 before I hired out in train service. But every time I look at it I think of that famous episode…

1. AT&SF 3142 sits at the point of train 403 J-2 in the south fringe of the eastbound yard in Emporia, KS on April 11, 1978

Deal ‘em!
Lance Garrels
santafe199



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/16 04:54 by santafe199.

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I have several times heard of a crew that would get "lost" several times  in a very large grain elevator in Ft Worth.

That yellow flasher on the roof had to be dealt with before you could hide and play a few hands.  Otherwise it was pretty easy for the yardmaster to see where your engine was.  Some of those yellow flashers literally couldn't be turned off..cut the breaker, flip the switch, they still would be on.  For that there was the cable that screwed into the light itself.
Brings back great memories!   BSB 

In the 70's, the East Field in Topeka was always stuffed with freight cars waiting their turn to go to the shops. It was a good place to hide out. Sometimes, one of the crew would go out and get a bucket of chicken from the kentucky Fried, and the only evidence of the "Picnic" would be a pile of napkins & chicken bones in the ballast.

On one night Pico switcher it was standard procedure to go down the "C" lead with cars ahead of and behind power and cab with cars on the left and right, shut the power down and do an eyelid leakage test for four hours in the North Vail industrial district.
​JB



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/22/16 06:42 by 3rdswitch.

BigSkyBlue Wrote:
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> That yellow flasher on the roof had to be dealt
> with before you could hide and play a few hands.
>  Otherwise it was pretty easy for the yardmaster
> to see where your engine was.  Some of those
> yellow flashers literally couldn't be turned
> off..cut the breaker, flip the switch, they still
> would be on.  For that there was the cable that
> screwed into the light itself.
> Brings back great memories!   BSB 

My memories with SFE engines was that the switchers, say the 1200s, had separate breakers, while the road engines had the beacons wired  into the headlight switch/breaker.  That beacon had 4 bulbs by the way.

Or, a bucket could be placed upsidedown over the flasher.  Don't ask how I know

BigSkyBlue Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That yellow flasher on the roof had to be dealt
> with before you could hide and play a few hands.
>  Otherwise it was pretty easy for the yardmaster
> to see where your engine was.  Some of those
> yellow flashers literally couldn't be turned
> off..cut the breaker, flip the switch, they still
> would be on.  For that there was the cable that
> screwed into the light itself.
> Brings back great memories!   BSB 

Back about 40 years ago we had an Asst. Trnmstr. who wanted to take a couple of hours off in the early evening, then come back and find which way the switcher had gone.  A cople of miles out from the yard was the switch to go to Whittier or straight on the former Yorba Linda line.  He knew the crew was messing with him, and would line the switch back behind them as one way of hiding.  His bright idea was to put a little twig on one rail just beyond the switch, then all he had to do was drive up there and check for the flattened twig.  If it was still intact, the switcher had gone to Whittier, if it was flat, they had gone toward Yorba Linda.

Well, they figured him out again, and would stop and check out the switch even though it was lined for them.  When the head brakeman found the little twig, he would set it between the rails and they would pull over it, stop, and the caboose crew would put it back.

This drove the ATM nuts, and he scoured every inch of Whittier looking for them, and of course, never found them!

It all worked well until a cold day that winter when the engineer left the engine running to stay warm, and US Gypsum, the company with the inside dock called the railroad to complain about the fumes!  All this time the crew had left their cars on another track then opened the door and pulled their engine and caboose inside, and closed up behind them.
G

While working an afternoon job at Gemco, we would need to clear out for #98, the eastbound Coast Daylight.  Naturally, we found it convenient to clear out in the extension right by the Budweiser tap room.  We would leave a handful of gravel on the main line rail.  This was our "register check, telling us that 98 was by.
On this day, 98 was reported out of Oxnard on time, so we did our usual thing.  After 98's time, we came out and found the gravel crushed.  We lined the crossover and came out on the main line. Shortly, we heard on the radio Sam Zachery's gravel voice  "Number 98 to the Gemco switcher." He was the regular engineer on 98.
We looked to the west and a headlight was showing.  We ducked back in the clear, and ole Sam gave us a dirty look as he roared by.
Seems as though 98 lost some time out of Oxnard, and a track motorcar had crushed our gravel "register check."
After that, we took turns staying on the engine to properly identify #98.  No more gravel register checks.

Brian Black
Castle Rock, CO