Railroaders' Nostalgia > Some More Sunday Slang

And then there was...

INDICATORS---Illuminated signs on the engine and caboose that display the number of the train. That's right,
going back many, many years, some railroads displayed train numbers on the cupola of their cabooses. 
Southern Pacific was one of the roads that did this; I'm sure there were probably others.

JOINT---Careful here; a joint, as I learned in railroad operations is where two rail cars come together for
a coupling, i.e. in switching: "We're going to make the joint". Or, after starting a move and the brakes go
into 'the big hole' the hogger can be heard yelling at the brakie: "You didn't make the joint!!...next time 
make sure you stretch 'em, (test the coupling by gently pulling to ensure the cars are coupled).  
Another 'joint' is where two adjacent steel rails (not working 'Rails'), meet: "At the joint".

BIG E---Engineer, from the large 'E' on membership buttons of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

GRIEVER---Spokesman on grievance committee; Brotherhood or Union representative at an official investigation.

SAW BY---Slow complicated operation whereby one train passes or meets another on a single track railroad when
the other is on a siding too short to hold the entire train. 'Saw by' is applied to any move through switches or through
connecting switches that is necessitated by one train passing another.

SMOKE ORDERS---The act of running from one station or siding to another without train order or schedule authority. 
You move cautiously, continually watching for the smoke of any train approaching from the opposite direction. 
Mr. Hubbard prefaced his remarks on this one saying: "...a dangerous method, now obsolete..."
Ya think?... sounds downright suicidal to me!

WASHOUT STOP SIGNAL---Any object waved violently by using both arms and swinging them in downward arc by day,
or swinging lamp in wide low semicircle across tracks at night. Working 'Rails' will recognize this as today's General Code
of Operating Rules (GCOR) Rule 5.3.4 "Any object waved violently by any person on or near the track is a signal to stop."

NO-BILL---Nonunion or non-brotherhood railroad worker. Compulsory union membership among the operating crafts is a
relatively recent (since the late 1960's or so) condition. I can remember when it was not a requirement and there were a distinct
minority of engineers and firemen that chose to not belong. On the other hand there were, again a minority,  younger engineers
who chose to 'double-head'; belong to both the BLF&E and BLE. There were valid reasons for this last example.

POLE---Used on those occasions while switching when a car was not able to be coupled into; possibly a 'drop' that didn't go as planned 
and a 'pole' was placed in those 'dimpled' pockets that once adorned the four corners of every freight car. Once in place, the errant car was
shoved, gently, until it rolled to a point where another car or locomotive could be coupled to it. 

BRAKE CLUB---Three-foot hickory stick used by freight trainmen to tighten 'staff' style and brakes.
Sometimes called a sap or staff of ignorance. (Don't ask me why; that's what Mr. Hubbard wrote)

Until next time.

Charlie 


 
  








 

Wasn't the indicators on the caboose more of a Harriman Common Standard thing? IIRC UP did this too.

After having to walk back a few times to recouple the train, (the air hose just want pull them) I was taught by on old head where to look to see the pin fall. That saved a lot of enmarrasement and extra work for the Engineer.

Steve

My new take away: 'No-bill'. Thanks!

The "Rand Formula", a legal term. Sometimes union members had religious and political reasons not to belong to a union. This formula allowed a portion of the union dues not be paid if that portion was used to support political parties or other organizations not related directly with collective bargaining. I'm guessing it was named after Justice Rand.

A "No Bill" had another meaning, likely the original meaning. When a loaded freight car didn't have a "Bill of Lading" (shipping document) it was called a "No Bill". Nowadays, shipping documents are electronic but for many years, on the railroads, they were a document supplied by the shipper and delivered to the consignee. They had multiple carbon copies. On a freight train, they travelled with the conductor. Sometimes they became lost or misplaced and then there was trouble. 

However, there was another "No Bill" situation which happened in smaller terminals. Most industries who shipped by rail had a "shipping agent or clerk" whose job it was to fill out waybills, and supply them to the railroad. They became very familiar with their counterparts in the railroad freight office, and with the switch crews who picked up and delivered the cars. Here's a scenario. The shipper has some priority shipments (hot loads) and as luck will have it, the railroad has just the cars he needs available, which the switch engine delivers to the mill. The shipper has the available manpower to load the cars. He inquires when the railroad expects to put the cars into a train, and is told a time. The shipper loads as many cars as possible before the scheduled train departure. The switch crew picks up the cars and places them on a track to be picked up. The race continues, sometimes with extra loads added as time permits. The switch crew can accept the cars as long as the load is secured. Meanwhile, someone at the mill is furiously creating shipping documents and will race to the freight office when they are completed.

So it was that "No Bills" (freight cars without bills of lading) were present on the railroad, but rarely left the freight yard that way.

 
eminence_grise Wrote:

"A "No Bill" had another meaning,...." 

Mr. Hubbard's narrow useage was only the first sentence of what I typed and I knew there was more
on the subject than the just the labor angle--just waiting for someone to expand upon. 
Thanks for helping, I appreciate it.

Charlie

 

eminence_grise Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The "Rand Formula", a legal term. Sometimes union
> members had religious and political reasons not to
> belong to a union. This formula allowed a portion
> of the union dues not be paid if that portion was
> used to support political parties or other
> organizations not related directly with collective
> bargaining. I'm guessing it was named after
> Justice Rand.

The principle you cite sounds like what I remember. However, in looking through my SP BLE agreement and
BLE Constitution and Bylaws from the era, I don't find such language that speaks of the ability to withhold that
portion of dues earmarked for PAC's. My recall is that, if I so desired, I could notify my local Secretary/Treasurer
and they would handle the paperwork. 

Charlie
 

Now that you've explained a saw-by, perhaps it would be a good time to explain the DOUBLE SAW-BY or DOUBLE SAW for short.

How many out there ever experienced a double saw? And if so, what was the reaction at the terminal?

Best regards,

Rob L.

rob_l Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Now that you've explained a saw-by, perhaps it
> would be a good time to explain the DOUBLE SAW-BY
> or DOUBLE SAW for short.
>
> How many out there ever experienced a double saw?
> And if so, what was the reaction at the terminal?

Never had to do one but after getting out some tooth-picks I think it can be done with 
2 cuts, 2 couplings, 2 shoves and 8 switch throws.
As for terminal reaction, they wouldn't even know about it---until I got ahold of the yardmaster. 8>(          

Charlie
 

As I remember some years ago the KCS routinely ran two non-clearing trains on its main line rather than several clearing trains.  The two trains met at a set point and used a double saw-by to get by each other.  I believe that it took about two hours.

BobB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As I remember some years ago the KCS routinely ran
> two non-clearing trains on its main line rather
> than several clearing trains.  The two trains met
> at a set point and used a double saw-by to get by
> each other.  I believe that it took about two
> hours.

Two hours if you have the moves down solid.....when everyone involved has only a vague idea what to do...it will shut the railroad down all day.