Railroaders' Nostalgia > Lou "Bummy" Bumcrot - UP locomotive fireman/engineer

Over the years I've only met 1 man or woman who remembered working with my grandfather prior to his retirement from UP at East Los Angeles in 1971 and it was this man...Lou Bumcrot.    IIRC I was alerted by "SPLoopConductor" about "Bummy" but don't remember the exact circumstances.

I first met Lou in Downey, Ca, where he resided, in late 2006.  He was 86 at the time but in decent health.  He was very happy to meet me, the grandson of someone he worked with quite often.  My grandfather was a locomotive engineer and over his career worked every job there was to work for UP in the Los Angeles Basin, his favorite being the Anaheim Local.  On many of those trips, especially to Yermo, "Bummy" was his fireman.  Needless to say "Bummy" had many interesting stories to tell the times I was able to chat with him, and he very gracious by saying my grandfather was one of the top 5 engineers he ever fired for, steam or diesel.

The above photo was taken in mid 2007, by his daughter, after a trip to Nevada which included a visit to the V&T.  

Unfortunately his health quickly deteriorated soon after and he passed away about a year and a half later.  He was a decent, kind man and I will always miss him.


Allen

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How great that must have been to talk to people who worked with your dad and to know the praise of his friends.  Thanks for a good story.

Do you know if Lou Bumcrot had a son or grandson that hired on with the Union Pacific about mid 90's in East Los Angeles? There was a new hire switchman named Bumcrot and he was called "Bummy" also. I was working through frieght and never met him. We used to get a lot of newhires for student conductor trips and I would get to know a lot of new people who would be assigned to me or other conductors.We would have one of them for 2 or 3 weeks and what ever we worked they went with us. You could teach them a lot as long as thier eyes wern't connected to the generator field switch.If the generator field switch was up their eyelids were down. The UP in Los Angeles was like a mom and pop railroad compared to the SP as SP had a whole lot more employees than the UP. At the UP everyone knew everyone and if you made somekind of smart ass remark on the radio everyone knew who said it. Back then we were paid one dollar per hour for training a new conductor. After UP "merged" with the SP that $1 was out he window and we got a whole lot more.However we would only get the student for one trip ,not the 2 or more weeks worth of trips and you couldn't teach them very much. After the 2 railroad employees became one big happy family in 2000 the UP employees I had worked with for years were scattered all over the SP in Southern California and I never saw many of them again. I don't know whatever happened to the second"Bummy".Not to change the subject too much ,what ever happend to "Larry the Loop Conductor? The last I knew was when someone posted a photo of him on Train Orders in the backseat of a van transporting him to a recovery facility after his heart issues..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/19 08:35 by Fredo.

Fredo, that was his grandson. I worked with him several times. He went into management at West Colton for a bit but they moved him to some other location afer he got promoted. Not sure where he's at today.-BMT

Was his grandson Jason? If so, he's in Eugene as an MYO, at least I assume he's still here. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/19 10:51 by Railbaron.

Walt Thrall, who hired out in UP engine service at LA in 1941, told me some good stories about firing for Oscar Bumcrot. I'm assuming that Oscar was Lou's father?

"SPLoopConductor" is alive and well last time I checked.

Allen

Posted from Android

Thanks Allen, I used to see him in West Colton before he retired. He patched us one night at the South Swicth at Slover. It was a swap .He was on a Eastbound intermodal triain that was going towards Yuma with a West Colton to Yuma crew change. We were on some uguly manifest train that terminated at West Colton. They had to yard it and hostle the power to the round house. They were all smiles. My engineer looked at me and said" They aren't even mad" I told him there was money envolved and he undestood. We got some extra also as we took Larry's train across the BNSF to Hunts Lane for the crew change. I hope he is doing fine as he didn't look as cheerful in that photo of him in the van on the way to the rehab place.He was always posting fun things he was doing with his boat and I felt bad for him.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/07/19 12:30 by Fredo.

Railbaron Wrote:
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> Was his grandson Jason? If so, he's in Eugene as
> an MYO, at least I assume he's still here. 

Looks like Jason is still in Eugene and has been promoted to a MTO.

Posted from Android

When he first came here, and for a while after, he was pretty cool. Eventually upper management got to him I guess and he really turned colors, became a real a-hole at times. Oh well, not my problem anymore. 

Railbaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When he first came here, and for a while after, he
> was pretty cool. Eventually upper management got
> to him I guess and he really turned colors, became
> a real a-hole at times. Oh well, not my problem
> anymore. 

I guess he received the implant and a full dose of log cabin syrup! When he was a conductor he was pretty easy to work with. in addition he worked the Operation Lifesaver specials.

Posted from Android

Unfortunately, higher UP management has a way of doing that to otherwise good people. It was a shame because Jason really was pretty decent but just before I retired you could see the transformation happening.

Posted from Android

Railbaron Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> When he first came here, and for a while after, he
> was pretty cool. Eventually upper management got
> to him I guess and he really turned colors, became
> a real a-hole at times. Oh well, not my problem
> anymore. 

Yeah, that's him (I couldn't remember his name). He was cool at West Colton when he first becam a MYO. Too bad the yellow syrum got to him. Been there, gave it up after 6 years. Was worth it now that I'm retired, a little extra bonus each month.-BMT

UPNW2-1083 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Railbaron Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > When he first came here, and for a while after,
> he
> > was pretty cool. Eventually upper management
> got
> > to him I guess and he really turned colors,
> became
> > a real a-hole at times. Oh well, not my problem
> > anymore. 
>
> Yeah, that's him (I couldn't remember his name).
> He was cool at West Colton when he first becam a
> MYO. Too bad the yellow syrum got to him. Been
> there, gave it up after 6 years. Was worth it now
> that I'm retired, a little extra bonus each
> month.-BMT

At least the serum wore off enough for you to regain your senses!

Posted from Android

Search for Larry Fredeen ("SPLoopConductor") on Facebook. Owner / Captain of the Motor Yacht Loose Caboose.
 

Ron Butts
Lincoln, CA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/15/19 15:48 by RonSD70.