Railroaders' Nostalgia > In the PIT you go!!

Wasn't it the very well endowed hostler Cocoa that put a unit in the Pit (taylor yard, L.A.)??
back in the 70's??
Were the tracks mis-aligned?
A common happening across the TT's of most RR's.
Did you do it too?

Somewhere  I have pictures of an 8600 hafway in, an GP9 hanging,  and a SW1500 that got enough speed up that the front steps were on the pit bottom.

ApproachCircuit Wrote:
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> Wasn't it the very well endowed hostler Cocoa that
> put a unit in the Pit (taylor yard, L.A.)??
> back in the 70's??
> Were the tracks mis-aligned?
> A common happening across the TT's of most RR's.
> Did you do it too?

I thought it was Karen Downs

Posted from Android

I jes couldn't hep myseff: ( Fubar Friday: caption this one! (trainorders.com) )

:^)

Minturn x N&W engine

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As many "fell into the turntable pit" pictures as there are....one thinks that sometimes there just has to be something beyond human factors...like brakes failed....or something weird....

engineerinvirginia Wrote: > ... one thinks that sometimes there just has to be something beyond human factors ...

Early in my career I had a senior man ("old head") tell me this:
"If you can dream up an event, or series of events that lead(s) to the most unbelievable or impossible result.... it's ALREADY HAPPENED somewhere in the RR world!"
And I believe him!

Lance/199

engineerinvirginia Wrote:
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> As many "fell into the turntable pit" pictures as
> there are....one thinks that sometimes there just
> has to be something beyond human factors...like
> brakes failed....or something weird....

the air bleads off?

engineerinvirginia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> As many "fell into the turntable pit" pictures as
> there are....one thinks that sometimes there just
> has to be something beyond human factors...like
> brakes failed....or something weird....

the air bleads off?  no chocks

Amen. When stopping a diesel consist or whatever that includes most likely is good idea to set all the handbrakes. If running on hostler controls maybe lookout person might avoid this FUBAR.

Don Allender

> Early in my career I had a senior man ("old head")
> tell me this:
> "If you can dream up an event, or series of events
> that lead(s) to the most unbelievable or
> impossible result.... it's ALREADY HAPPENED
> somewhere in the RR world!"
> And I believe him!
>
> Lance/199

Ain't that the truth!!!

Oooops. Taylor Yard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/24 11:18 by SP4360.

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Conversation between me and the Lincoln Street (Robey Yard B&OCT Chicago)

Ring....

Chief

Swede. 75xx (SD-40-rare in Chicago, usually sent back toward coal country on Pittsburgher or Advance Dixie) won't make the Dixie

What's up?

Derailed

How bad; how far from the rail?

three feet

ugh! jack it back closer to the rail?

Nah! Need the hook. The three feet is down. It's in the pit.

TAW

Gravity always wins!

We didn't have a pit, but I've know engines DIT that had a fire in the electrical panel to load up a who;e consist and run over derails, threw walls,and into other engines.

Sam

SP4360 Wrote:
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> Oooops. Taylor Yard.

I think I remember that one.  IIRC it happened sometime in 1970.  I wasn't involved with how the GE got
where we see it but I got to witness an old-head Road Foreman single-handedly correct it.

The 'oopsie' happened on the night shift when a hostler didn't do his 'due diligence' in securing the beast on
the turntable lead. Next thing was---there it sat, in a very ungraceful position.

IIRC this happened on a Saturday morning. I came to work as a Turnout Track hostler at Taylor RH on the daylight
shift later that morning and by that time all the gawkers had their fill. About 10-ish, long time RFE Rollin Roberts arrived
on the scene. Roberts had the Turnout Track foreman assign a set of hostlers to gather about 4 or 5 units from those
sitting on the Turnout Tracks and bring them to the turntable lead. There, Roberts went through the units, placing each
'on-line' and insuring all brakes were 'cut-in'. At the same time he told the Foreman to make sure no one came close to
the units while he attempted to re-rail the unit. I took the opportunity to take my position to witness something I had never
see before, or as it turned out, since.

When ready, Roberts, being guided by the Foreman gently moved forward to a coupling. After the Foreman retreated
to his position of safety, Roberts started pulling on the beast. Run 2, then 3, then 4. A wheel set back in the consist lost
traction then caught the rail----suddenly there was movement. The big unit rose from the pit and, unbelievably----all the
derailed wheels settled down; on the rails. Not a piece of oak blocking was was harmed in that re-railing!! Quite a show. 

Charlie


 

Rollin was a one of a kind RFE.. He was very respected by the men. He also helped Vince Cippola attain employment with Eagle Mountain RR after the mishap at Ravenna.

Posted from Android

I was on a locomotive and we were spotting a car on the turntable to be turned....we were still coupled to the car when suddenly the turntable operator started to turn the table.   I gave a blast on the whistle and he stopped and then slowly returned the table to where it was....that was the closest I came to a mishap at the turntable.

Sounds like something Carl Meyers would have tried.

cewherry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SP4360 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Oooops. Taylor Yard.
>
> I think I remember that one.  IIRC it happened
> sometime in 1970.  I wasn't involved with how the
> GE got
> where we see it but I got to witness an old-head
> Road Foreman single-handedly correct it.
>
> The 'oopsie' happened on the night shift when a
> hostler didn't do his 'due diligence' in securing
> the beast on
> the turntable lead. Next thing was---there it
> sat, in a very ungraceful position.
>
> IIRC this happened on a Saturday morning. I came
> to work as a Turnout Track hostler at Taylor RH on
> the daylight
> shift later that morning and by that time all the
> gawkers had their fill. About 10-ish, long time
> RFE Rollin Roberts arrived
> on the scene. Roberts had the Turnout Track
> foreman assign a set of hostlers to gather about
> 4 or 5 units from those
> sitting on the Turnout Tracks and bring them to
> the turntable lead. There, Roberts went through
> the units, placing each
> 'on-line' and insuring all brakes were 'cut-in'.
> At the same time he told the Foreman to make sure
> no one came close to
> the units while he attempted to re-rail the unit.
> I took the opportunity to take my position to
> witness something I had never
> see before, or as it turned out, since.
>
> When ready, Roberts, being guided by the Foreman
> gently moved forward to a coupling. After the
> Foreman retreated
> to his position of safety, Roberts started pulling
> on the beast. Run 2, then 3, then 4. A wheel set
> back in the consist lost
> traction then caught the rail----suddenly there
> was movement. The big unit rose from the pit and,
> unbelievably----all the
> derailed wheels settled down; on the rails. Not a
> piece of oak blocking was was harmed in that
> re-railing!! Quite a show. 
>
> Charlie
>
>
>  

I had to do some digging...

This is a short tale taken directly from a delightful book called "A Treasury of Railroad Folklore". It was first published in 1953 by B. A. Botkin & Alvin F. Harlow. The edition I have was published by Bonanza Books and distributed by Crown Publishers Inc.

the story on page 323 is titled: Enough was Enough

Cyrus H. Jenks was a division superintendent for the Great Northern Railroad at Crookston, Minnesota in the early days. En route to St Cloud one day he received a message to the effect that a locomotive tender had fallen into the turntable pit at the Crookston roundhouse, and that the hand derrick was being used to extricate it. A few miles down the line he received another message: “Hand derrick now in pit, Should we send for the steam derrick at Melrose?” At that, the pressure in Jenks’ boiler rose to the danger point. He wired the roundhouse: “Leave the steam derrick where it is. No more room in the pit.”
(Communicated by H. R. Weicking, public relations assistant, Great Northern Railway, St Paul, Minnesota)