Railroaders' Nostalgia > Fireworks at Work?

Did you have any experiences involving fireworks (especially firecrackers) at work? Good times....Good times....

Happy Fourth.

 

Torpedoes worked good as "firecrackers". 

A fusee laid on the rail and run over will explode. Tear apart a fusee, sprinkle it on the rail and run over it, it will crackle.

-LD

People used to put M-80s in the Incinolet electric toilets but that was a year-round occurrence.

A 1 1/2 inch ladyfinger set off laying on top of an Adlake kero switch lamp will knock out the flame.

-LD

Experiences with firecrackers - YES.  Good times - HELL NO.  The experiences involved kids or young men trying to throw firecrackers at me through my engine cab window. Happened on the Southern at Gaffney SC and at Croft NC.  Thankfully none detonated inside the cab.  The firecracking throwing young man from Croft NC made the mistake of going to the same late night  bar I went to on Thursdays.  I caught him pissing at a urinal, and he caught a size 15EEE steel toe logging boot in his ass.  He decided to leave.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/04/23 10:29 by Notch7.

   Someone once tried to throw a cherry bomb into the fireman's side cab window at Burbank Jct. on the Southern Pacific.  Fortunately, he missed, and the bomb went off on the walkway right behind the cab.  That was bad enough.

Brian Black
Castle Rock, CO

Not July 4'th, but New Year's Eve, went by a group in Kingstree, sc shooting Roman candles at propane tanks next to the rr. Happed 2 years in a row. Fortunately, I was running a good 60 at the time.

Sam

Had a little snot drop a M80 down the manhole I was working in. I could hear about a hour later....

Oh boy, let’s just say fireworks and the running crafts seemed to go together like peas and carrots.

Many stories that have to wait a few more years until retirement.

Regards

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I never had any personal experiences. But I heard a few stories during my career, NONE of them good…

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Mine OTOH were spectacularly funny and down right hilarious/amusing. 😆😝

Regards.

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While working third trick Shop Engineer in Pensacola, put down a box of torpedo's on the engine lead. A box has 144 in it. Took some time to put them down and when done took a locomotive and got it up to about  15 then shut the throttle off. Sounded like a machine gun with 144 rounds. Sure sounded neat for the New Year back in the 80's.

Steve

Used to throw cherry bombs in a tank of water.  It would shoot water up about 25 ft.

I started out in the Topeka Shops when it was a new car factory. Every day they would come in with a Burro Crane, and bring in a gondola load of car sides or ends. The track them came in on was kept clear of men and machines, but they came in kinda hot, and with all the noise and confusion anyway, sometimes it was hard to hear if you had hood down, and were welding or cutting, or had your mind on your job, and not so much an open track beside you. Somebody got a couple of torpedoes out of a waycar sitting outside, and laid them inconspicously on one of the rails. When they came in shoving a gondola and ran over them, you could hear them go off all over the car shed, and it was kinda funny, but one of the guys saw an opportunity, and turned in a hearing claim.

I used to work with Ed Platz and he was an overgrown kid. We would throw firecrackers under each other seats in the cab. One morning as the sun was rising he was asleep in the firemans seat. At that time SP s wheel report was 5 copies with carbon paper in between. I waded up the wheel report and placed it under his seat. Lit it on fire. The carbon paper is very flammable. The flames reached the bottom of the chair emitting smoke.. The acrid smell and heat woke up Ed and he awoke screaming and bumped his head on the ceiling. Of course i erupted into uncontrolled laughter. RIP Ed

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