Railroaders' Nostalgia > Merry Christmas

I wish a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my fellow railroad employees, working and retired.
We recall those past times where we were either on the road operating trains or sitting at home with our families for the Holiday depending on whether the railroad we worked for decided to be open or shut down for the holidays. When we held yard jobs we knew that we would at least be around for the holiday celebration minus the 8 hour shift we would work.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

A southbound BNSF coal load is just now passing through Palmer Lake, CO. I know where they will be for Christmas. Been there done that. Merry Christmas to you and yours.
JB

I worked on Christmas and other holidays often in my time on the U.P.

Later on when the railroad closed down for holidays I spent several Christmases on the midnight shift at Hobart Tower.  There were one or two men at the shop working on locomotives.  They and I were the only U.P. employees on duty in the whole of Los Angeles.  The ATSF was not doing much more.  They were very quiet nights.  Not even much traffic on the streets, or even burglars out stealing pallets.

I never did see Santa Claus.

Merry Christmas from the peace and quiet of a retirement center,

Eugene Crowner

I can't be with my wife and kids this Christmas until next week so I'm staying marked up so others in my terminal can take the day off. Just got off a run this morning, looks like I might be lined up to catch a deadhead to the AFHT this evening. I'm just grateful to be working after so many recent winters being furloughed. Plus, I don't have to deal with the in-laws this year. Heh, heh, heh.

Gene, It might have been the first Christmas that the UP shut down for Christmas in LA. We were called for a K Line train to Yermo the morning of Christmas Eve and the crew caller told us we were the last train to be called and that we would be deadheadded home after handing the train over to the Las Vegas crew. Well when we arrived at Yermo there was no Vegas crew, We were told by the dispacther to shove the train into track 201 and take the Renzenberger van home.as there was no one in Yermo Yard. After tieing the train down we called the Renzenberger van and no answer, he went home. We walked over to the Beanery and as we walked up to the door,Carol who ran the Beanery was locking the door with her daughter and going home.We told her of our problem and she opened the door so we could use the phone to call for a ride. She told use that her locking the door was the first time she ever locked the door. It was almost dark and the wind was blowing real good so she stayed inside the beanery with us until another van arrived. On the way home the Interstate 10 / 15 interchange was closed due to some guy with his childeren stopped on top of the interchange in a U Haul truck claiming he had a massive bomb in the back of the truck and to call his ex wife and let her know  the kids wern't comming home for Christmas. It was massive gridlock. We took sidestreets to get around the mess. When we arrived back at Los Angeles there were only two cars in the parking lot ,ours,and the office was locked. We walked around and found those two guy in the backshop and entered the office through the back door. There were 39 turns on the pool and I tied up 39 times out. I was off for four days and was home about 22:30 Christmas eve.I am sure that U Haul driver's kids remember that Christmas eve as well as I do.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/18 11:53 by Fredo.

trainjunkie Wrote:
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> I can't be with my wife and kids this Christmas
> until next week so I'm staying marked up so others
> in my terminal can take the day off.

For the years that I worked Asst. Chief on Christmas or Thanksgiving, I would wait a couple of hours to be sure that it was as not busy as it was supposed to be https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?18,4169031,4169031#msg-4169031
then tell the trick dispatchers on my district to go home, I'd run the whole thing. My family was used to holidays being just another workday and so neither they nor I minded letting others go home for more of the holiday.

There were other Christmases that provide that opportunity, but that situation enabled others to have a happy holiday too
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1064589,1064589#msg-1064589%3E
https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?11,1306820,1306820#msg-1306820

TAW

In October of 1983 I got called back to work after being laid off for a year and a half and got forced assigned to the 2230 stock job in L.A. that spots the hogs at Farmer John's. We worked all the holidays as the hogs couldn't be held anywhere and had to be unloaded as soon as they arrived in L.A. On that rainy cold Christmas Eve, our only work that night was to wait for the hogs to come in and spot them for unloading at Farmer John's. To keep us in the Holiday spirit, I added a string of Christmas lights to the front of our engine. I don't think the hogs had a very merry Christmas though.-BMT

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Brian couldn't you have gotten the proper engine number for that night?

Fredo Wrote:
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> Brian couldn't you have gotten the proper engine
> number for that night?

I would have it had been in L.A. 

One Christmas season about three nights before Christmas Eve I was called to deadhead from Los Angeles to Yermo ,second of two crews. NW-1083, AKA BMT, was the engineer of the first crew. Brian thought he might be coming down with the flu and didn't feel very good. We had the Renzenberger driver stop at a 24 hour Walmart in Rancho Cucamonga off interstate 15. I had never been in a Walmart before as there wasn't one anywhere near where I live. Now they are 2, 3 miles away in each direction.Brian was hoping he could get something to help while sleeping at Yermo so he would feel better at Christmas.So my engineer stayed in the van and I went in the store with Brian. I wandered around the store a saw the employees re stocking the toy deptartment. When I found Brian he was standing in line at the check stand in a long line looking miserable. That Christmas the "HOT TOY" was the "Tickle my Elmo"doll. They couldn't be found any where,even at the Rancho Cucamonga Walmart. When I caught up to Brian in line I mentioned just a little loud " Wow they are restocking the toy department with Tickle my Elmo dolls".The line then got a whole lot shorter. Brian paid for his remedy and we were out of there.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/18 16:48 by Fredo.

I am fourth out, and on Christmas day tommorow we are starting up in the afternoon....they should deadhead some crews to AFHT and I hope to be one of them...there are at least two trains in the yard that are waiting....our rule is deadheads called before trains but that doesn't always pan out. 

Great story Fred. I can see you doing that.

I sat first-out all afternoon but deadhead never materialized and the line-up changed a dozen times. Finally called for 2030. It'll be Christmas Eve on the road and Christmas Day in the hotel. I hope whoever's pool spot I'm protecting has a nice holiday. Cheers to all on TO.

TAW that was very nice of you.

  On Christmas Day 1993, I was working a Capital Corridor run out of Oakland that had a two hour layover in Sacramento. My wife came along, bringing our 5 month-old daughter and a cooler with a semblance of a holiday meal. It was announced that Number 6 had picked a switch leaving the Oakland station (the old 16th Street) and derailed a couple of cars. Obviously, it would be hours before they would get going. There were probably 50-60 Number 6 passengers waiting in the Sacramento station. The station agents called around, looking for somewhere these folks could get some food, but downtown Sacramento was a ghost town. Our train was the only consist in the station, so we opened up our lounge car and told the station to send them out. Amtrak didn't have a "service recovery" plan yet, so the food wasn't free but at least they could get something. Being the conductor, a couple folks wanted to use me as a verbal punching bag, but most were pretty stoic about it. I was very grateful I was only facing a two-hour run back to Oakland and then could go home.
  For all you folks on the road or in a hotel tonight or tomorrow, I appreciate what you go through, and hope you have the best holiday you can manage. If your families can tolerate what you have to do with good humor, God bless 'em.  

I've worked a lot of Christmas Eves and Christmas Days over a long career.  From the first Chrismas when the hoodoo E9 I was turning picked a switch and derailed (still rerailed it and got it out on the Star) TO this Christmas Eve building a stack train for Atlanta with an elderly N&W SD40-2 (with the trainmasters at home - all snug in their beds).  Every Christmas Eve though, I light an old ADLAKE KERO lantern for all the old railroad buddies and ralilroad family members that have passed on, and I remember them.  To all my railroad brothers and sisters I wish a blessed Christmas and a strong 2019 where we keep the fight going.

That’s a nice tradition Notch. Merry Christmas to you and yours. 

Very nice tradition notch 7. Where I worked there was a somewhat crooked crew dispatcher who on a given day would take your block out of the crew board and take it home. Then he would bring it back after Christmas. The cost, a bottle of wild turkey and a 50 dollar bill. Got you off for Christmas and never entered as a mark off.

Yep, that brings back memories: crew callers taking bribes and those wood blocks we used to use.

Living in Savannah, crew clerks got fish,shrimp, vegetables from the country boys, large pieces of pork,beef,venison. This was in addition to alcohol and straight up cash.

Christmas Day 1974: I am on my regular job as dining car steward on the Broadway Ltd. At 4 pm we depart eastbound out of CHI. Conductor Andy Wallace appears after Gary, IN to say: “there is an ass in every seat.” 465 people. The waiters moan and groan: “what is wrong with these people? Don’t they know it is Christmas? Stay home!”
Yes, we had a big dinner that night-180 plus for dinner.

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