Railroaders' Nostalgia > Candidates For The Jerry Springer Show

On Train # 4 that left L.A. on Nov. 7th 2006, we had a guy and a girl traveling to Chicago with an infant daughter. I think he was eighteen and she was twenty-one. She was old enough to buy booze and he wasn't legally old enough to consume it. She was his "supplier." When they were busy pro-creating the kid, maybe she should have been charged with statutory rape or sex with a minor.  He later told me that their effort to start a new life and him finding gainful employment in California was a failure and the three of them were returning to Ohio. 

To make a long story short, these two upstanding citizens of our community started spending a lot of time in the lounge car with another group of about six equally-low-lifes. Don't ask me who was keeping a watch on their infant child back in the coach car. Probably no one. 

When we left Barstow, I told this crowd of people that the lower level of the lounge car was closed and there would be no reason for them to be down there. Fortunately, there was a deadheading BNSF freight conductor riding down there and I asked him to keep a watch on this crowd if they came downstairs and advise me of their doings. 

So as everyone is getting progressively more plastered on booze that they'd earlier purchased from the lounge car and from their own private stock that they sneaked aboard (against the rules, but these are people who don't obey rules), the dude gets so wasted that he rendezvoused in the downstairs bathroom with ANOTHER skanky chick that he just met on the train for some nasty, skanky stuff. On a scale of one to ten, this babe measured about a negative three. Think of Whoopie Goldberg, aged about ten years, with missing teeth and hair that looked like she just rolled out of bed. 

The freight conductor told me he witnessed the two of them going into the bathroom and, later, the guy came out with his pants still partially down and his "thingy" hanging out. Just about this time, his girlfriend was on a "search and destroy" mission, trying to track him down and see what he was up to. She stumbled upon the little love fest as it was concluding and then a knock-down, drag-out fight erupted between the two women. 

So the guy/girl that used to be a "couple" with a child are now officially history. Amazing how a little love tryst in a public bathroom with a total stranger can so dramatically change the dynamics of a relationship! 

Assuming that an act of oral sex took place in the bathroom (remember, the witness watched two people enter the bathroom and later noticed him exiting with his "thingy" hanging out), we decided to put both people who were in the bathroom off the train at Needles into the waiting arms of the local sheriffs. Even though her role in all of this wasn't exactly lilly white, we decided to let the mother and her infant child continue to Chicago and then on to Ohio. The fact that she had a child weighed heavily. Without the kid, I probably would have thrown her off too. Oh yeah, as a parting shot, this woman claimed that her now-former-boyfriend-and-father-of-her-child stole $200 of her money. 

I am SUCH a home-wrecker! 

We keep the Sheriffs at Needles busy. Maybe I'll start dropping people off at Ludlow, Amboy and Fenner. Dropping them off at the "big city" of Needles doesn't seem to inconvenience them enough. 

I found out Greyhound no longer serves Needles. All the buses swing up through Laughlin / Bullhead City. Maybe that's why were getting so many "Greyhound types" on the train. 

Here's an email exchange I had with an Amtrak co-worker friend re this incident.  He worked at their regional office in Philadelphia. 

You need to go back on the San Diegan with the suits! Or maybe not..... 

My assistant conductor spent 11 years working those trains and she says things are just as chaotic, if not worse, over there. 

Rules used to say you could put them off at "any inhabited place". 

I came real close to putting the guy off at Fenner, where there's only a truck stop, but by the time I got ahold of the headend we were already passing the place. Probably just as well, because the dude would have had to cross the north main to get to the truck stop and he probably would have managed to get hit by a freight. No loss, but then I'd have more questions to answer and paperwork to fill out. This was after he was calling me every name in the book, insulting some of my family members, and threatening to kick my ass. In the past, I've put people off at a grade crossing in Daggett into the waiting arms of the police. 

Now (at least around here) it has to be at an open station, into the custody of some poor Amtrak employee who will eventually get you back for dumping this bum on him/her. 

Yeah, and at the rate they're closing down open-agency stations, that means I'd have to conceivably carry a dude from just after Fullerton to Flagstaff. It's amazing how much some of these policy makers are so totally disconnected from reality. 

I recall typing a morning report for No. 5 which stated "20 minutes (at some little place between Denver and Cheyenne), catch, dress, and eject streaker". That had to be in 1976 or 77. 

I remember reading a great morning report from UP saying that a guy had to get kicked off the Zephyr because he was masturbating. Because of the delay, some input clerk with a sense of humor wrote, "It took awhile to get him off."   

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From: Anonymous Retired Amtrak Engineer
To: CA_Sou_MA_Agent  (Retired Amtrak Conductor)
Sent: Tue, 21 Nov 2006 4:40 PM
Subject: Re: Candidates For The Jerry Springer Show 

That reminds me of when I was working the Desert Wind in the early to mid-1980s. Jim Levin was my conductor and he loved throwing people off the train. He had plenty of opportunities to do so as they would be partying going over and broke, hung over and angry coming back. 

One time he had a guy on the train apparently wearing nothing but a large overcoat bearing the label "property of Los Angeles County Jail" or something like that. It wasn't hard to figure out what he was and what he was up to! 

One trip, I had my wife with me and Jim called to tell me to call the dispatcher and have the police waiting for us and to stop at Victorville to put off an unruly passenger. 

There was no depot at Victorville during that time, so I spotted the car he requested on the street crossing where the depot used to be. I asked the fireman to tell what he saw. He described the door opening and someone putting down the step box, then he said a blonde woman was getting off the train. I crossed to the left side, looked back, and exclaimed, "That's my wife getting off -- he's gone too far now!" 

As it turned out, a Middle Eastern man was drinking heavily in the lounge car and the attendant cut him off. He became irate, said he was PLO and had a gun. That's when Jim called and told me to call the cops. He didn't mention the gun, which was just as well as once when that was mentioned the SWAT team showed up and it was almost like a day at the OK Corral. He probably didn't have a gun anyway. He did have a wife and baby, however. 

That's where my wife came in. Jim told the man's wife she could either continue on to Las Vegas or get off the train with her husband, in which case her ticket would be marked and she would be permitted to continue her journey whenever she chose. She chose to detrain at Victorville, so my wife assisted her in doing so. That's what we saw from the engine. Right after them, the busted Arab was led down the steps by Jim Levin.  

2 comments  

November 11 2006, 22:45:19   Boy, I guess they should be on the Springer show. What a bunch of hillbillies! LOL, I have seen so many of that type in Ohio where my husband's family is. It's honestly downright ridiculous. Makes me glad we're stable, haha!  

November 12 2006, 02:08:23   Yeah, that area of the country seems to have their fair share of low-lifes!But it seems to be spreading nationwide!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/20 14:26 by CA_Sou_MA_Agent.

Sounds like the nocturnal portion of the Starlight, just substitute "Dunsmuir" for "Needles." I got off those long hauls just as fast as I could, although years on the San Joaquins provided a host of dandy stories. Even the Capitol Corridor could periodically dig up the dregs of humanity. No wonder I ended up on the Oakland yard job.

wpamtk Wrote:
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> years on the San Joaquins provided a host of dandy stories. 

Write them down somewhere, the more detailed the better, and post them here after you retire!  

Have you seen this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1530851882/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_5pZBEbKNN5R5T%20via%20@amazon

I was on #3 riding out to LA on my pass. At Lajunta, I see this guy get on, and walk through the car. He had a nice shirt and tie, and sweater, but was wearing camo fatigues and combat boots. I later noticed him in the lounge drinking where he stayed all day. Later west of Albuquerque, he walks back through the car, stops and starts arguing with a young lady and her child. He starts screaming and cussing, that she is in his seat and she needs to get out. She had been there for several hours, the baby was sleeping, and she held her ground. He became more enraged, finally he hit her in the face. About that time the brakeman came in and broke it up, and they called ahead and set him out at Holbrook, AZ, police waiting. I was able to write out a statement for him, he told me the drunk walked into the wrong car, his seat was in the same location, but in another car.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/20 18:25 by LocoPilot750.

A drunk on a passenger train staggering down the isle stops at a seat with a young mother and baby and proceeds to tell her that was the ugliest baby he had ever seen.   The mother starts to cry, the conductor comes upon the scene, grabs the drunk and throws him off at the next station.   He then returns to the young mother to try and comfort her.   He offers to get her coffee and a blanket and then says "can I get you a banana for your little monkey in your arms". (from Jackie Gleason a long time ago).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/20 06:26 by atsfer.

Hay, I have lived in a Trailer Park, so does that put in your low life book.Miles ?

 

"It took awhile to get him off."  I about spit out my coffee when I read that!  Oh, the stories in which one can witness unfold (or participate) while riding the rails on Amtrak!  Every trip has the potential to host a NY Times best seller, lol.

   I worked enough passenger when the SP was running the passenger trains and for Amtrak before they started running the trains with their own people to realize I didn't want it as a steady diet.  When Amtrak offered us freight guys jobs back in about 1986 or so, I said "Thanks but no thanks!"
   With 20 years seniority with the SP, I was offered an assisstant conductors job on the San Diegans.  Stories like the previous ones reinforce my view that I made a good decision.  With my temper, they would have locked me up a long time ago for throwing a couple of tjose lowlifes out the door at 90 per.

Brian Black
Castle Rock, CO

mundo Wrote:
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> Hay, I have lived in a Trailer Park, so does that put in your low life book.Miles ?

I didn't intend to offend you, Ed.  I've modified the story.  

  

atsfer Wrote:
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> A drunk on a passenger train staggering down the isle stops at a seat with a young mother and baby and proceeds to tell her that was the ugliest baby he had ever seen.   The mother starts to cry, the conductor comes upon the scene, grabs the drunk and throws him off at the next station.   He then returns to the young mother to try and comfort her.   He offers to get her coffee and a blanket and then says "can I get you a banana for your little monkey in your arms". (from Jackie Gleason a long time ago).

That's a joke that made Flip Wilson famous.  

https://youtu.be/k_9XOEOSWBY

tehachcond Wrote:
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>    I worked enough passenger when the SP was
> running the passenger trains and for Amtrak before
> they started running the trains with their own
> people to realize I didn't want it as a steady
> diet.  When Amtrak offered us freight guys jobs
> back in about 1986 or so, I said "Thanks but no
> thanks!"
>    With 20 years seniority with the SP, I was
> offered an assisstant conductors job on the San
> Diegans.  Stories like the previous ones
> reinforce my view that I made a good decision. 
> With my temper, they would have locked me up a
> long time ago for throwing a couple of tjose
> lowlifes out the door at 90 per.
>
> Brian Black
> Castle Rock, CO

Yeah, the Santa Fe guys are the ones who made out with Zone 12 seniority. The #1 engineer had a 1972 Santa Fe date, the #2 engineer had a 1945 SP date.

wpamtk Wrote:
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> Yeah, the Santa Fe guys are the ones who made out with Zone 12 seniority. The #1 engineer had a 1972 Santa Fe date, the #2 engineer had a 1945 SP date.

I don't know if that's correct.  I used to work with a prior-right ex-Santa Fe engineer in Zone 12 (who just retired about four or five years ago) and he had been around for so long he told stories of hostling steam locomotives.  

zone 12 enger.have to remember santa fe had the highest number of amtrak trains . union pacific only had yermo to los vegas. southern pacific had 11/14 , 5/6    santa fe had all the la / san diego trains  3/4 35/36  the valley trains .  plus your enger seniority  was based on your firemans date . not the enger date .

It might be an urban legand but do train crews ever drop an unruly passenger (s) off in the middle of nowhere?

DFWJIM Wrote:
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> It might be an urban legand but do train crews
> ever drop an unruly passenger (s) off in the
> middle of nowhere?

Per Santa Fe Los Angeles Division timetable 120, November 29, 1942.
Under rule 356,  California: Civil Code, Section 2188, provides:
"A passenger who refuses to pay his fare or conform to any lawful regulations of the carrier may be ejected from the vehicle by the carrier. But this must be done with as little violance as possible, and at any usual stopping place or near some dwelling house."
Section 487 provides:
If any passenger refuses to pay his fare or to exhibit or surrender his ticket when respetfully requested so to do, the conductor and employes of the corporation may put him and his baggage out of the cars, using no unnecessary force, at any usual stopping place, or near any dwelling house, on stopping of train."
 

Still sounds like throwing them off and their baggage at 90 MPH

DFWJIM Wrote:
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> It might be an urban legand but do train crews ever drop an unruly passenger (s) off in the middle of nowhere?

I put a guy off at a truck stop near Fenner, CA next to where I-40 crosses the Needles Sub on an overhead bridge.  He was so out-of-control that taking him to Barstow was out of the question.  I called to have the police meet us there and we got there before they did.  I told the guy that he had a choice of getting off the train with police intervention or without police intervention.  At first he said he wanted police intervention and then he changed his mind about thirty seconds later.  It probably took him that long to remember how many outstanding warrants he had.    

I recall another conductor who put a guy off at (I think) the McFadden Ave. grade crossing in Santa Ana, CA.  The conductor got in some hot water because the ejected dude was either a lawyer or had hired one and was claiming that the location was out in the middle of nowhere.  Anyone who is familiar with Orange County, CA knows that there is practically nowhere in the county that meets that description.  

Another incident that made some headlines was when a conductor intended to put a guy off at Williams Jct. into the hands of the police.  Problem was, the train got there before the police did and the misbehaving guy knew he was going to have to deal with the cops.  He decided to flee the scene by jumping over a fence and dashing off into the forest, where he managed to get lost for a day or two.  He was supposedly diabetic and, of course, it was suddenly the fault of everyone EXCEPT him.  He was the victim.   The news media even tracked down where the conductor lived and wanted to interview him.  The condcutor told me that "if a miscreant passenger wants to run away from me, hop over a fence and get lost in the woods, I really don't have all that much control over that."

That might be ONE of the reasons why the Southwest Chief no longer stops at Williams Jct.  

https://azdailysun.com/news/amtrak-dumps-diabetic-man-in-national-forest/article_1e457efb-a447-5910-ba89-36d8e9de2f50.html

https://azdailysun.com/news/sims-wearing-only-underwear-when-found/article_d65b8ea5-ffaf-5b08-b8c9-99afa4387349.html

https://vosizneias.com/2007/06/29/arizona-amtrak-train-kicks-off-diabetic/

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?706496-Diabetic-Man-Kicked-Off-Amtrak-Train-in-the-Middle-of-Nowhere

http://whynow.dumka.us/2007/06/29/     

On-board crew members really have to contend with the dregs of society (along with some good folks).  My hat's off to you for the skills you have to develop in managing the miscreants until you find a location to eject the idiots into the hands of law enforcement.  It has to be a balancing act in today's politically correct landscape filled with litigious motivated "victims".  
Good job!

CA_Sou_MA_Agent Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wpamtk Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Yeah, the Santa Fe guys are the ones who made
> out with Zone 12 seniority. The #1 engineer had a
> 1972 Santa Fe date, the #2 engineer had a 1945 SP
> date.
>
> I don't know if that's correct.  I used to work
> with a prior-right ex-Santa Fe engineer in Zone 12
> (who just retired about four or five years ago)
> and he had been around for so long he told stories
> of hostling steam locomotives.  

Both of the individuals I referred to worked out of Oakland. Tommy Delarosa actually hired out with SP as a roundhouse laborer before WWII, and went into engine service when he returned after the war. I remember him telling me stories of being loaned out to the Inter-California Railway in the 40s. Rich, the #1 engineer was off Santa Fe's Valley Division.

fbb37 Wrote:
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> On-board crew members really have to contend with the dregs of society (along with some good folks).  My hat's off to you for the skills you have to develop in managing the miscreants until you find a location to eject the idiots into the hands of law enforcement.  It has to be a balancing act in today's politically correct landscape filled with litigious motivated "victims".  Good job!  

If Trainorders had a "like" feature for comments, I would activate it for what you wrote.  Thanks for the kind words.  Fortunately, I never got shot. 

https://csanders429.wordpress.com/2017/12/21/amtrak-conductor-testifies-he-was-in-shock-that-passenger-shot-him-last-may-at-naperville-station/