| Home | Open Account | Help | 245 users online |
|
Member Login
Discussion
Media SharingHostingLibrarySite Info |
Railroaders' Nostalgia > Roadmaster's PranksDate: 06/10/24 10:38 Roadmaster's Pranks Author: train1275 Many years ago I was involved with a railroad rehab project that got heavily involved with environmental issues. Such issues became common place in later years, but at this time it was rather novel, new and frustrating both on the railroad side and for the environmental folks who had to go into the field in unfamiliar surroundings and culture.
One day we are walking track that had been out of service for years in preparation of a rehab involving State and Federal funds. There is me, my roadmaster, an environmental specialist supervisor from the State and an environmental State intern. We had walked for several hours hitting up culverts, bridges, wetlands, drainages, flora, fauna and whatever. The young intern was only slightly interested in the core subject at hand and spent most of her time picking the wild strawberries that grew between the ties. My roadmaster noted this, and slyly pointed it out to me a few times. I didn’t really think too much about it, but he certainly was paying attention and hatching a plan. So after several hours, she once again bends over to pick a few of the tiny sweet delicious berries to snack on when the supervisor asks when was the last time this track was known to have been sprayed for vegetation. Now I could never figure out if the roadmaster guided the conversation to that or it just opportunely came up. I suspect the former. His answer, stated very matter of factly was, “well just last week I sprayed some real nasty $h*t through here to knock down some of the vegetation so we could get through, but I guess it didn't seem to affect the strawberries.” The intern turned white, mouth agape and went down the embankment heaving her guts out. The supervisor, shocked, asked if he really did that. “No”, he said, “I just wanted to see her reaction”. She came back up the bank gasping and spitting and cleaning off her mouth with her hand looking like death warmed over and asking if she was going to need medical attention. Three of us got a laugh out of it, but the poor intern was more silent than ever. We never saw her again and were admonished to not pull such a prank again. Before this incident, he was with another State oversight person. They were looking at a sink hole near one of our depots, which was State property. Thinking it to be a possible passenger / pedestrian hazard we were asked to ascertain why it was there, and to fill it, which we agreed to. The roadmaster though got a rise from the State guy when he said, “a shame to have to do that, I usually dump the used Hi-Rail oil down there when I change it out.” After recomposing himself, the State guy sort of laughed …. “you were joking …. right ? ... right ?? There were some fun times out there back in the day. Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/10/24 10:41 by train1275. Date: 06/10/24 17:33 Re: Roadmaster's Pranks Author: Drknow I remember when we could have a little fun at work with each other and even some company officials. That ended a while ago, and now the company wants the job to be drudgery and a grind. Sad.
Regards Posted from iPhone Date: 06/10/24 22:37 Re: Roadmaster's Pranks Author: PHall Drknow Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------- > I remember when we could have a little fun at work > with each other and even some company officials. > That ended a while ago, and now the company wants > the job to be drudgery and a grind. Sad. > > Regards > > Posted from iPhone Some people don't know when to stop. Results in nobody having any fun. Date: 08/02/24 05:47 Re: Roadmaster's Pranks Author: goduckies Hopefully there weren't passanger trains on that line... maybe the manure was why the strawberries grew well!
Posted from Android Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/24 05:47 by goduckies. |