Railroaders' Nostalgia > Dave Passard?

I knew the late Dave Passard a little bit, mainly from many, many years ago.  I last spoke with him about a year before he passed on.  If anyone on TO worked with Dave, was he good to work with, not so good, in between?  Thanks.

Steve

Well, if there are any other former LA area SPers left on here, they will also testify as to what list Passard was on, as well as to what position on the list he held!

Many people referred to him when he wasn't present by changing the first 'A' to an 'I.'

Posted here 3 or 4 years ago was the story of Dave working a switch engine at the Shops and being instructed by the late UP MTO Linda Seafair who was wearing a skirt and pantyhose.  Needless to say, he didn't take it well.  The late poster SteamJockey made the comment after reading the post that: "I'm going to be sick." 

As information,  the late Linda Seafair had been Roy Igo on the SP before he changed his mind.

Dave and a Conductor named Walt left Dolores with a stack train one night.  Neither of them paid close attention to their track warrant, with the result that they entered the Carson block at about 30 MPH to find it nearly full of empty well cars.  Dave put it in emergency, Walt jumped and broke his ankle.  Dave rode it out, and the engine stopped about two car lengths short of a joint...

Sorry to bust your bubble.
G

One hot summer day, Passard gave me an eastbound at West Colton. He came down the engine steps wearing an engineer’s stripe hat, overalls to match, large pocket watch, gold chain and SP Fob. If I didn’t know better, he could have been on the 4014. He fit the part. I said to him, “ You must be a REAL engineer, I can tell by the garb you’re wearing.” I had a golf sun visor and a Hawaiian short sleeve shirt. My garb was a little more comfortable going to Yuma in July.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/19/19 11:44 by HardYellow.

He must have finished his gallon of milk and complete cake. Was there an empty milk jug and large pink bakery box in the trash?

Dave Passard. I laughed at all of the stories and know they are all true. Dave was working as a brakeman at Oxnard. He turned the engineer for running a red signal. Little did Dave know at that time Oxnard was ABS territory and rule 93 yard limits plus the engineer was coupling to a cut of cars on the maintrack. Dave did know steam operations he had worked at UCLA as a steam plant stationary engineer. His name does come up in locker room discussions as knucklehead employees.

Posted from Android

I had an eastbound train that I handed off to Passard in L.A. and I told him I came in with the slack bunched as there were a bunch of auto racks on the head end with long drawbars. As I got back to the office, I got a call from the corridor manager telling me that Passard just ripped my train in two. I explained to him that I had told Passard that I had come in bunched and to take off easy as there were autos on the head end.  I guess he knew better than I did. Oh, and he did climb on board with his standard 2 gallons of milk.-BMT

At 2 gallons of milk a trip, how did he get thru the cab door 

Carrying the milk jugs along with the large pink box with the birthday cake in it kept him just trim enough to accomplish that task.

Trainhand Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At 2 gallons of milk a trip, how did he get thru
> the cab door 


He drank low fat milk!

Posted from Android

Did Dave Passard start out as a fireman on the Santa Fe out of Richmond?  (HardYellow's decription of his garb certainly fits)

No, he was hired as a switchman/brakeman on the SP in 1979.  He was injured on duty a couple of years later and put off on disability where he stayed for approximately ten years.  During that time he worked as a stationary steam engineer for a university. 

The SP was checking its long term disabilities, and when they called him to check his status in the early nineties, he said he would be right down!  Apparently he thought he was terminated and got another job?

He also took the first available transfer into engine service after he came back.
G



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/19 07:52 by ExSPCondr.

   I worked with Passard both when he was braking for me, and as my engineer.  One fine day, he was called as an engineer on a westbound officers special out of Yuma.  He was so blown up with hot air, you couldn't get near him!  He's telling all and sundry how a REAL engineer will handle this train.
   Before the train arrived in Yuma, some official, I think it was Gerry Griffin, found out he was called for the train, and upon finding out there was a westbound dog called behind the special with a good engineer, he said "no way was Passard going on that special. Trade 'em off."
   When "Super Dave," as he was called, found out about this, you should have heard him!  The tears almost washed the Yuma yard office away!  He was going to put in a runaround, he was going to call the union, he was going to call the FRA, etc, etc!  I'm glad I wasn't his conductor on that drag!
   Dave was his own worst enemy.  He just never learned to control his mouth, which was running all the time, and from my own hands on knowledge of steam, I realized he knew just enough to get himself in trouble on a steam engine, but not enough to get himself out.  Many Rentzenberger drivers refused to carry him because he was turning them in all the time.
   This thread could go for pages!

Brian Black
Castle Rock, CO

I believe he did tell me that he worked for the Santa Fe, for a short time, before hiring out with the SP. I want to say it was much earlier, like 1968, but I don't recall what happened with that job.
 

   According to him, he got cut off as a firemam  on the Santa Fe as a ewsult of that California "featherbedding" election around 1964.  He worked as a fireman on the steaam engines at Disneyland before coming to the SP as a brakeman somewhere in the 70's.

Brian Black
Castle Rock, CO

tehachcond Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>    According to him, he got cut off as a
> firemam  on the Santa Fe as a ewsult of that
> California "featherbedding" election around
> 1964.  He worked as a fireman on the steaam
> engines at Disneyland before coming to the SP as a
> brakeman somewhere in the 70's.
>
> Brian Black
> Castle Rock, CO

Brian,
  And he told me he got in trouble at Disneyland because he used too much blower and atomizer and the engineer couldn't hear the jazz music he liked to play while going through the dinosour tunnel!

crackerjackhoghead Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> tehachcond Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >    According to him, he got cut off as a
> > firemam  on the Santa Fe as a ewsult of that
> > California "featherbedding" election around
> > 1964.  He worked as a fireman on the steaam
> > engines at Disneyland before coming to the SP as
> a
> > brakeman somewhere in the 70's.
> >
> > Brian Black
> > Castle Rock, CO
>
> Brian,
>   And he told me he got in trouble at Disneyland
> because he used too much blower and atomizer and
> the engineer couldn't hear the jazz music he liked
> to play while going through the dinosour tunnel!

Haha...we always thought he was a few pounds below operating pressure !

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/19 15:46 by SanJoaquinEngr.

I met Dave Passard in 1963 when I would ride my bicycle to watch the Santa Fe switch the oil refineries on the Oil City Branch in the Bakersfield area, a line that the Santa Fe and SP operated in alternate years.  He had been assigned to the Oil City pretty far from his home terminal of Richmond.  He let me ride in the locomotives several times. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/24/19 14:48 by johnsweetser.

SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> crackerjackhoghead Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > tehachcond Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > >    According to him, he got cut off as a
> > > firemam  on the Santa Fe as a ewsult of that
> > > California "featherbedding" election around
> > > 1964.  He worked as a fireman on the steaam
> > > engines at Disneyland before coming to the SP
> as
> > a
> > > brakeman somewhere in the 70's.
> > >
> > > Brian Black
> > > Castle Rock, CO
> >
> > Brian,
> >   And he told me he got in trouble at
> Disneyland
> > because he used too much blower and atomizer
> and
> > the engineer couldn't hear the jazz music he
> liked
> > to play while going through the dinosour
> tunnel!
>
> Haha...we also was a few pounds below operating
> pressure !
>
> Posted from Android

   I asked him once why he left the employ of Disneyland.  His answer was, "I knew too much."  However, about that time, I understood one of those engines turned up with a burnt crownsheet...hmmm!

Brian Black, 
Castle Rock, CO

johnsweetser Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I met Dave Passard in 1963 when I would ride my
> bicycle to watch the Santa Fe switch the oil
> refineries on the Oil City Branch in the
> Bakersfield area, a line that the Santa Fe and SP
> operated in alternate years.  He had been
> assigned to the Oil City pretty far from his home
> terminal of Richmond.  He let me ride in the
> locomotives several times. 

Since he was employed in 63 then he would of been one of the fireman to be cutoff. I didn't know he was that old!

Posted from Android

Trying to shed a little more light on the subject, Dave was born 3/11/1940, which would have allowed about four or five years as a Santa Fe fireman before the firemen were all cut off.

His trainman's date on the SP was 5/28/79.
G