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Railroaders' Nostalgia > $18,000 an Hour on the Oil CansDate: 02/26/19 13:19 $18,000 an Hour on the Oil Cans Author: tehachcond As a SP/UP conductor out of Los Angeles, I worked the oil cans when the loads originated in Bakersfield many, many times. Also, I was the regular conductor on the job after they moved the loading facility to Fleta, which is just south of Mojave. One afternoon, we were cruising along with the loads in Soledad Canyon just minding our own business. Larry Knapp was my engineer, and Ray Knight was on the Sylmar helper...a first class pair of engineers!
About the time we were going through Lang, the DS called and said there was a pickup truck stuck on the tracks behind the old Saugus Speedway. We aknowledgedand said, "OK, we'll sneak down there and take a look".. Larry had 'em pinched down to a crawl as we came around by the old dynamite plant, and sure enough, here it was. The cops were there, and was we came into view, they started frantically waving like we're approaching at 90 MPH! As we came to a stop, I said to Larry, "Larry, what do you think delay to this train costs per hour?" "Oh, I don't know." "I think about $18,000 per hour sounds about right. That's what I'm going to charge this guy" I said, as I went out the door. I walked up to the stuck truck with my best Earnest Borgnine "Emperor of the North" expression on my face, and I tersly asked the driver, a young guy, for his ID. As I was writing down his information, I asked him why was his truck on the tracks. He stated that he was trying to leave a race event at the speedway, and tried to use the tracks as a shortcut. Bad idea! I could tell he was pretty shook up, and then he asked me what legal ramifications were going to come of this. "Well, the Southern Pacific Railroad charges the oil company $18,000 dollars an hour to move their oil in this train, so you'll get a bill for at least this amount. Maybe more." When I said that, he looked like he was going to cry! Right after that, one of the cops placed him under arrest, the tow truck showed up, and believe me, they weren't very gentle getting that little truck off the track! As we started to move, here's this guy in handcuffs, thinking he's going to get this huge bill from the railroad, and his truck half wrecked. Definitely not his day. I'll bet he never pulls a stunt like that again. Brian Black Castle Rock, CO Date: 02/26/19 13:37 Re: $18,000 an Hour on the Oil Cans Author: PHall The fact that the cops arrested him tells me there may have been some alcohol involved.
Which would explain why the tracks looked like a short cut! Date: 02/26/19 14:27 Re: $18,000 an Hour on the Oil Cans Author: dcfbalcoS1 And he SHOULD have recieved the $18,000 bill from the railroad after that information was given.
Date: 02/26/19 14:46 Re: $18,000 an Hour on the Oil Cans Author: tehachcond PHall Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > The fact that the cops arrested him tells me there > may have been some alcohol involved. > Which would explain why the tracks looked like a > short cut! Didn't smell any alcohol on him, but then I'm not really trained to spot such things. They may have found an open container in the truck. Brian Date: 02/26/19 19:19 Re: $18,000 an Hour on the Oil Cans Author: CT97 The "Like" Button has been invisably Pressed.
Date: 02/26/19 20:32 Re: $18,000 an Hour on the Oil Cans Author: ATSFSuperChief Truck dude was lucky to still be alive. If DS wasn't notified his truck was dead meat.
Don Allender Date: 02/26/19 21:44 Re: $18,000 an Hour on the Oil Cans Author: CR3 Nice going Shack, er Brian. Funny story.
Date: 02/27/19 19:18 Re: $18,000 an Hour on the Oil Cans Author: ButteStBrakeman GREAT one Brian !!
 Date: 02/27/19 19:56 Re: $18,000 an Hour on the Oil Cans Author: atsfer I was an engineer on a train that was hauling UPS trailers and was already "silvered up" because it was late when we came upon a guy stuck in his truck just to foul the main line. We were able to get stopped because we observing a slow order luckily enough and so the conductor and I went down to try and help. His truck was stuck deep in ballast at a crossing that was closed and barricaded for repair. When my conductor asked him why he went around the barricades he answered "because I'm stupid, that's why". I returned to the engine since we could not get his truck freed and called the DS. The poice showed up and and arrested him because he'd been drinking, and finally we left after a tow truck arrived up and pulled his truck in the clear. We were delayed 45 minutes, I later found out the RR sued him for $45,000 for delaying the hot train and loss of revenue because the UPS trailers would not make their agreed delivery times.
Date: 03/08/19 10:19 Re: $18,000 an Hour on the Oil Cans Author: SanJoaquinEngr https://cdn.trainorders.com/attachments/fullsize/683000/CCF09132012_0000.jpg
This was my experience at the same location! Posted from Android Date: 03/08/19 19:09 Re: $18,000 an Hour on the Oil Cans Author: ProAmtrak Did the person survive? That F150 looks like it was a rough ride!
Date: 03/09/19 06:21 Re: $18,000 an Hour on the Oil Cans Author: SanJoaquinEngr ProAmtrak Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > Did the person survive? That F150 looks like it > was a rough ride! Yes the driver did. He was standing besides the pick up when I hit it. He might have not survived after he told his father about the incident! Posted from Android Date: 04/08/19 17:12 Re: $18,000 an Hour on the Oil Cans Author: ProAmtrak No kidding, those are never pretty!
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