Railroaders' Nostalgia > SP TBM jobs on the Western Lines

Some real good, the others just so-so.
You made a dollarr and change more over the Brakeman's pay.
Back then it was approx $33+ to $35 for a 150 mile day.
Now if you were a brakeman with a passenger uniform and TBM qualified you could make out financially!
The SP didn.t like calling the old heads off their bid-in freight assignments because the company would get stuck
with Black Market pay! So if you were TBM qualified and available you would get the call !
This happened with regularity if you came in to Oakland 16th St on the Cascade. Before the equipment left for BAYS
you would be approached by one of the SP 16th St clerks and told you had a "Phone Call" Well it was the Crew Dispatcher
asking you if you wanted to DOUBLE OUT on the "City" to Sacto. Sure you would. A quick call to the "Old Lady" and
you were set for your second T/S.
Another variation of this was coming into Oakland on the Ogden Mail and then getting called out for the City or Cascade later in the day.
The Sacto Daylight was another good job, not much pay but you were off all seven nights of the week, Back into Sacto and tied up around 6pm
and not out until the next morning. (TBM)
The Lark TBM not so hot of a job: You made a trip to Salinas, spent part of the night in a SP Bldg where you could sack out and then back 
to the City in the early AM.
Now the best job was catching the S.J. Daylight from Oakland all the way to LAUPT. 482 miles! You then worked back on the west bound
daylight the next day. The only catch to this super mileage job (TBM) was that the Daylight left L.A. (later years) at 5:40am. By then
the train was only 5 cars long. So barely got your rest in L.A.. The phone rang, it seemed, the minute you got into bed from the trip that you had
just tied up .. Between Mojave and Bakersfield you could sack out on the mail bags! The Hotel in L.A., I have since forgotten the
name, was a cheap walk-up and I mean cheap. It was worse than those rooms in Watsonville Jct.  with the gang showers!
If you got called for the EB City at Oakland, you worked to Sacto and slept  upstairs at the SP Depot and returned  on the Ogden Mail
the next very early morning. But you did have most of your time off to walk around Sacto and fool around.
The old heads on the SP bad-ordered their uniforms to avoid being called for passenger duty. This seemed to be tolerated by the
company(?). But if you were a new hire, you were told in no uncetain terms, to get your Butt down to the SP Tailor and get
fitted out. You paid 50% of the cost. (In San Francisco). Because of the Commuter Services.

As a non SP new guy(97 date) what’s a TBM?

Regards

Posted from iPhone

Drknow Wrote:
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> As a non SP new guy(97 date) what’s a TBM?
>
> Regards
>
> Posted from iPhone

Train baggage man.

Posted from Android

Thank you.

Regards

Posted from iPhone