Railroaders' Nostalgia > I Need an Operator at...1/3

BN operators had regional seniority. A Western Region operator could work Bainville MT and west of there on GN and anywhere in Washington, Oregon, California, or British Columbia on NP, GN, or SP&S. Train dispatchers had the same regional seniority district: Havre, Spokane, Vancouver, Seattle, Tacoma, and Maple Valley.

Dispatchers had office seniority. A regular or extra dispatcher in an office had prior right to any position in the office over someone in another office unless the person in the other office had been cut in a reduction of positions.

BRAC (clerks union that represented the operators) and ATDA (dispatchers union) didn’t get along too well. Before the Clerks union took over the Order of Railway Telegraphers, they had never experienced a dual seniority setup such as the operators and train dispatchers had. When dispatcher work was available to an operator who was an extra dispatcher, the dispatcher work had precedence. An extra dispatcher could not be held on operator work if dispatcher work was available. BRAC didn’t like it. In the agreement, Rule 8 stated that any operator holding a regular assignment who failed to take an open train dispatcher position anywhere on the region that could be held with that operator’s train dispatcher seniority would lose the regular operator position and revert to the extra board.

Rule 8 is how I wound up in Havre. I held third trick at Bellingham and was an extra dispatcher in Seattle and Maple Valley. 2d trick Havre West (Havre – Whitefish MT) came open. Some of the GN folks in Seattle didn’t like me too much because I was not on board with everything they were accustomed to doing (some sloppy stuff that would have gotten them fired anywhere else). When you are the only one doing it right, you make the others look bad, so you are the bad guy.

Then there was Telegrapher Control, the regional office that handled the administration of operators. I related some about them here https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?18,3461489,3461489#msg-3461489

The guy directly in charge of the operators, A L, didn’t like operators…and he was one. He really didn’t like dispatchers, and his boss was one. I’ve heard that the night the North Coast Limited went into Granite Lake (ID) in 1962, the two of them were working together, for whatever that’s worth. A made it a point of making life miserable for the extra board. You could be at some outpost far from home for months, even when there were open vacancies around home. He once sent me to Centralia from Bellingham, where I lived, to cover a vacancy in Centralia, 173 miles away. At the same time, he sent a Centralia extra man to cover a vacancy in Bellingham. One operator I knew quit BN after a promise of she was never going home, and hired out on BN in Chicago.

Fortunately, BN had a better operator agreement than MILW. The MILW agreement provided the Chief the ability to change an operator’s home station once in 30 days. That’s just what the MILW chief in Tacoma did. He never paid expenses to operators because once a month, he’d move their headquarters station to whatever place they would be working for the month. The BN agreement provided that an operator’s headquarters station was the nearest timetable station to the operator’s home address. A spent operator expense money like it was Monopoly money if he was doing it to screw some operator. It wasn’t like operator expenses were extravagant. Operators got $7 per day for lodging and $6 per day for meals. I don’t remember, but I don’t think there was any payment for using your own vehicle to move from station assignment to station assignment.

When I was at Havre, the 3d trick operator at Cutbank, V, was from Sumas (WA). I learned the Sumas night operator job from him and we doubled the job during a long winter of detours when the coast line was closed at New Westminster because of a barge taking out the Fraser River Bridge. One morning, right after work, V called me to tell me the news. A had promised him that he was too valuable in Montana to ever go back home, get used to it. V had enough, called his wife, told her to sell the house, buy a motor home, sell anything that didn’t fit in it, and drive to Cut Bank, stopping in Leavenworth to get a Post Office Box that would be their official address. With no operator jobs around Leavenworth, he would be on expenses no matter where he was, and would always be at home. On hearing the news, A promptly terminated his 3d Cut Bank assignment and sent him to 2d Sumas.

A told me that he couldn’t wait for me to Rule 8 to the extra board because he had a lot of work for me in Montana. So, A couldn’t wait, some of the GN guys in the Seattle office couldn’t wait, and when 2d Havre West came open, I considered whether I wanted to be copying 3 and going out in the snow or telling someone else to copy 3 and go out in the snow. I bid on the job nobody wanted, got the job that nobody wanted, packed up the family and everything we had and moved to Havre MT (actually, Zurich for a while, then Havre).

The day I walked in, the first guy I met asked why I would move from Bellingham WA (actually, Ferndale) to Havre to take 2d trick on a horrible job. I told him it was because of Rule 8. He told me that couldn’t be and showed me the bulletin book. Rule 8 had been cancelled months before and nobody told me. That made me even less enthusiastic about my situation.

Havre West was a mankiller job. People working Havre West today have a cush job compared to what it was in 1979. Three guys got canned off of it in the year I worked there. Two others would have been canned, but I managed to save them without anyone noticing. Havre (Pacific Jct) – Teton (Shelby) single track CTC, pretty steady grade ascending westward, Teton – Blackfoot double track Rule 251 except a single track bridge protected by interlocking at Cut Bank, ascending westward the whole way, single track CTC Blackfoot – Marias (Summit), double track Rule 251 Marias – Red Eagle accept single track Rule 261 across the Java Bridge and between Pinnacle and Paola, with dispatcher controlled interlockings, single track CTC Red Eagle – Conkelley, and double track Rule 251 Conkelley – Whitefish, downhill Summit to Conkelley. Rule 97 was in effect Whitefish – Conkelley and Blackfoot – Teton: extras moving with the current of traffic do not need train order authority. Rule 97 was not in effect between Red Eagle and Marias. All movements had to have train order authority. Essex – Blackfoot was a helper district. The train dispatcher managed the helper power and crews. The helper board was in Whitefish. When they were between trips at Essex, they could be tied up and sent to the hotel. Track car lineups could be used as M of W authority to occupy tracks, even in CTC. The M of W department insisted on a single lineup covering Pacific Jct – Whitefish. It was for their convenience, certainly not the dispatcher’s. The lineup was normally two full pages and sometimes three. It could take an hour to transmit the lineup and get the repeats, provided the dispatcher ignored all interruptions during the process.

In retrospect, that year of Hell in Havre was really beneficial, like working the SP San Joaquin Division. I got to do a lot of things and learn a lot of things that would not have happened elsewhere. It was still a year of Hell.

I had some sort of luck in that year. Virtually every wreck on the Montana Division in the year that I was there occurred on my shift on my railroad. The others happened on the shift before I came to work…on my railroad. I had a regular crew. The operators at Whitefish, Columbia Falls, Summit, Cut Bank, and Shelby were relief jobs with the same days and hours as me.

The first one happened on my one third trick of the week. It was a really dead night. It was cold, snowy, and not much traffic. All I had was 88, a Dirty Ol’ Freight Train Seattle – Northtown and 180, another DOFT Pasco – Great Falls. 88 was out of Java and 180 was by Conkelley. The operator at Whitefish observed that it was a really boring night. Right after that, there was a muffled voice on the dispatcher phone Dispatcher Windy Point Dispatcher Windy Point You could hear wind howling in the background. Midnight weather at Summit was somewhere south of 20 below, 30 mph wind, heavy snow, and visibility 500 feet. I answered the voice at Windy Point. Dispatcher, 88. We’re in the ditch. We’re over the side for sure. I don’t know how much yet. I know we’ve knocked down the snowshed. The first thing I said, before answering him, was Whitefish, don’t ever say that again. I told him to see if he could get to the head end. If he could, cut off what was on the railroad and take it to Summit. If he couldn’t make it, I’d come and get him as soon as I could, just stay on the caboose.

Essex was a day-only office in summer. In mid-Fall to mid Spring it was a 24 hour station. Well, it was supposed to be. A hadn’t filled 2d or 3d trick yet. On top of that, he sent the agent to Kalispell to cover a vacancy there. There was nobody at Essex. I was going to need to pull off the rear end, get the hook up there, get a B&B work train up there, get ballast up there and pull the wreckage back to Essex on a railroad that required train order authority for all of it. I called Seattle. I need an operator at Essex right now and will need all three tricks for at least a couple of days if you don’t fill them for the winter.

You dispatchers; who do you think you are? You want operators here, you want them there, you don’t need them but you want them anyway. No, I don’t have anyone to send.

OK, fine, I’ll do without. (click)

That’s what I proceeded to do. 180 was coming through Pinnacle. I called them on the radio.

180 train to the eastward siding at Essex, tie it down, power to the house (there was a little engine facility at Essex) crew to the hotel except the conductor go to the operator’s office at Essex and come to the phone.

When the conductor hit the phone at Essex, the conversation went like this:

Essex, get out a timeslip, then stop board east, guns (torpedoes – the rules required protecting a stop train order signal with torpedoes), and let me know. CF (Columbia Falls) timeslip, a bunch. Conductors got paid (I can’t remember the amount, 50 miles, maybe?) for performing operator work and the nearest operator on duty got paid two hours for each time an operator was not called to handle the work that the conductor did. This was going to be pricey.

The conductor told me that he had a stop east and guns. I gave him an order to eastward trains at Essex (and to westward trains at Summit): Both main tracks blocked by derailed equipment and debris between MP---and MP---between Java East and Blacktail. After making the order complete, I sent him to the hotel to get coffee, his crew, and his engine, then come back to the phone.

When he got back, I had him copy a work order to get his engine up to the wreck and pull the rear end back to Essex. Uh Oh. It’s been two hours since he displayed the stop and set the guns? CF, SX, that’ll be a fresh timeslip. Off they went to bring back the rear end of 88. Meanwhile, the Whitefish hook is called. The Havre hook is also called, but it’s still 200 miles away. When 180 came back, I had them put the train in the westward siding at Essex and told them to go get something to eat at the hotel while I worked out the next move. It’s always good practice to leave sidings closest to a wreck open. Among other things, I would need a place for the hook to run around, a place for the B&B work train, and a place for wrecked equipment and snowshed remains. Track panels could go to Essex pit. That’s where the ballast would come from anyway. Whenever there was a hole punched through, the hot trains should be first in line. Two things I didn’t need at Essex were 88’s rear end and 180’s train.

180’s conductor came to the phone. What’s next?

I need you to put 88’s rear end and your train together and take them to Whitefish. Copy five.

I fixed him up with a work order on both tracks between Pinnacle and Java West not protecting against extra trains and annulled the work order that he used to go get 88’s rear end. I also put the new work order out at Columbia Falls to the Whitefish hook, which had a straight running order Red Eagle to Essex. Oh, and Columbia Falls, Essex, timeslip on that.

Off they went to put their train together on the westward track. The Whitefish hook got by Columbia Falls. When 180 was done, I let the Whitefish hook up to Essex on the eastward track. Only one thing left to do. 180, I need the conductor to come to the phone.

I had to take down the work order they used to put their train together, fix them to Red Eagle, and fix the Whitefish Hook. That was three more orders at Essex and timeslips at Columbia Falls and Essex. I told 180’s conductor to deliver the hook’s order, replace the guns for the stop board, tell the hook’s conductor to come to the phone, and blast off for Whitefish.

It was time to go home. It had been an expensive night. It was an unnecessarily expensive night considering the Essex agent had been sent to Kalispell to cover the agency there and he was on his day off, as was the regular second trick operator at Columbia Falls. Oh…and there was an extra board operator living in Whitefish. I had enough for one night. That was my one third trick of the week. I’d be back Sunday at 7am for first trick.

Funny thing – nobody said a word about how I handled Saturday morning, but Essex was open 24 hours a day when I got to work Sunday morning.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/05/17 09:38 by TAW.

But Wait! There’s more.

A month or so later, I had an east man, I think maybe 80 (Portland – Pasco – Northtown merchandise) go in the ditch at Tiber, between Havre and Shelby. It was another south of 20 below day. It turns out that they broke a wheel at Lothair and ran at 50 mph for seven miles to Tiber. There was such a cloud of blowing snow behind the train that the conductor couldn’t see that the railroad was torn up behind them. From the cupola, the hind man noticed that the wayside readout board of the Tiber detector was gone…then the air went. It turns out that not only was there a wreck, the broken wheel had broken the rail in 107 places in the seven miles between Lothair and Tiber…and because it was south of 20 below, all of those pieces shrank – a lot. There was a lot of rail to fix. It had to be trucked in from all over Montana.

I had the honor of having the wreck on my shift. I came back the next day to the honor of opening the line. Montana didn’t have a full crew law, but it had a full agency law. BN had to maintain the agencies at every station. On my Monday first trick, not only did I have the operators at Columbia Falls, Essex, Summit, Cut Bank, and Shelby, I had agents at several stations at my disposal. I used them regularly, much to the confusion of some folks.

With a useless 256 mile long lineup that was obsolete before transmission was finished and an impossible workload, I wanted to make track work a little easier. In CTC, I would stick out a Form Y train order (Form B track bulletin now) at an agency either side of where someone wanted to work. All I had to do was tell them when trains were coming and the rest would take care of itself. I had to block the CTC machine to be sure that nobody got by a station where there were orders hanging without getting them. There was no taking down permits and having the Gandy call back and sticking out another permit and having him call back and giving more time and all that. It was safe and enabled me to get track work done that otherwise wouldn’t have been because I wouldn’t have had time to deal with it.

The wreck was relatively easy to clear. The track was not easy to fix. It was still way south of 20 below. There was seven miles of temporary stick rail between Tiber and Lothair. When the line opened, it would be five mph following a motor car – all night. However, that might change as the night went on. That meant that each train would need a train order to that effect and the track inspector would need a lineup that called out each train much more specifically than the six hour long 256 mile regular lineup. Chester was an hour west of Havre, once a train that had been cleared started moving, which could be a while. The Chester agent was due to go home at 5pm. I was going home at 3pm. Trains would start out of Havre about 2pm, with Amtrak 7 first, followed by hot trains 3, 13, 97, and 197 behind.

I called Seattle that morning when I was told what would be happening and told A that I needed 2d trick at Chester. I got the same tirade that I got last time and I let it go the same as I had before. He could have looked for a Shelby or Cut Bank operator on a day off, maybe somebody from Havre, but the last word was NO!

Then I rang the operator at Havre.

Copy a bunch west.
C&E Westward trains Havre period
Westward trains obtain a clearance at Chester.

I cleared 7, 3, 13, 97, and 197, then told the operator to wire a copy of the order and who had it to A in Seattle.

Either there would be an operator at Chester to fix them, or each train would stop and the conductor would come to the phone and be an operator. I really didn’t care.

By then it was time to go home. Since it was Monday, I wouldn’t be back until 3p on Tuesday. When I got back, there wasn’t a word about how I handled Monday, but I heard that they had to charter an airplane to get an operator to Chester before 7 got there.

I never had the occasion to talk to A again.

TAW



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/05/17 03:01 by TAW.

Wonderful reading...the ups and downs of railroading. Trip over a $10.00 bill to pick up a $1.00 bill. It never ends.

Great story!............Another shining example of the carrier's own stupid arrogance coming full circle to bite them in the rear end.

Gosh o mighty, I always look forward to your stories. Just the other day I was wishing you would give us one. THANKS

Great stories as usual.

I'm guessing that since there was no operator at Essex the office door was locked...therefore the conductor had a key to get in.



Allen

bradleymckay Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Great stories as usual.
>
> I'm guessing that since there was no operator at
> Essex the office door was locked...therefore the
> conductor had a key to get in.
>
>
>

Switch key. Part of being a one shift office but helper station much of the year.


TAW

TAW Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> By then it was time to go home. Since it was
> Monday, I wouldn’t be back until 3p on Tuesday.
> When I got back, there wasn’t a word about how I
> handled Monday, but I heard that they had to
> charter an airplane to get an operator to Chester
> before 7 got there.
>
> I never had the occasion to talk to A again.
>
> TAW

I'm guessing that may have been a good thing, as neither party would have had anything nice to say to the other! Thoroughly enjoyed the story again!

Darren Boes
Lethbridge, AB
Southern Alberta Railfan

Great reading.

Things for operators on the UP were a lot better. Home terminal for extra board operators was established as the nearest UP station to where you lived and could not be changed unless you bid a job and left the extra board. On the extra board you got travel time between assignments, auto mileage, and away-from-home per diem allowance. The seniority district only covered the Oregon Division and the Spokane International. So the range was not as extreme as on BN.

I worked summers on the extra board and gave up seniority at the end of each summer to return to university studies. (And summer earnings on the extra board helped me get through college without asking my parents for a dime.) As the youngest man, I sometimes got force-assigned to jobs nobody bid on. Like a 9pm-5am shift in Baker, Oregon (selling psgr tickets, handling baggage and express, preparing switch lists, billing freight, entering switching activity into the computer). Which I enjoyed. Or second trick operator at Sandpoint, ID, where the agent was a tough taskmaster. Which I also enjoyed. And when the UTU struck the UP, they did not strike the SI, so I got to keep working. By the third summer, the powers that be realized I was one of the few who knew the tariffs inside out so I was exclusively assigned agency jobs, relieving regular agents while they took their vacations. Day shift with weekends off that could be devoted to photographing the Milw in the Bitterroots or the UP in the Blue Mountains. Work was fun, I was a paid railfan and was never happier. And the regular men were glad to see me every summer because it enabled more of them to claim their vacation time during the summer when their kids were out of school.

Best regards,

Rob L.

RobL, as it should be and as it was when I worked for the IC in 1958 and 1959.

Interesting to read of your using a conductor as a train order operator.
I had done that once on the ICG line between Shreveport and Vicksburg.
The station did not even have a train order signal but the order was a "helping" order.

I have always wondered if anyone else had done that.