Railroaders' Nostalgia > A Christmas Surprise.

  Retired SP/UP conductor here.  This took place back in the days when the operating railroads provided operating crews for Amtrak trains.  At the time, I was a regular conductor on the West End out of Los Angeles.  Christmas Eve morning, I checked the board and my crew was about seven times out with no trains to run.  I thought I was safe from the railroad intruding on our Christmas plans.  WRONG...!
   Bright and early Christmas Eve morning, my phone rings.  Never dreaming it would be the railroad, I made the mistake of answering it.  It was the railroad.
   "Brian, need you as brakeman on Amtrak #14, so and so time on duty at the depot."
   "Don't have a uniform, Bill."
   "Brian, I'm desperate, you are my last man.  Wear a dark suit, it you have one."
   Now this particular crew dispatcher was instrumental in letting me lay off when needed when I was going to college, and he knew I'd be available on the weekends, so I  felt I owed him one, so I OKed the call.  I left for work leaving behind a thoroughly PO'ed wife and two crying kids.  This job required a layover in San Luis Obispo and wouldn't get me home until Christmas night.
   So off I go, dark suit and all, and not long after I got to the depot and before I had even reported to my conductor, some little chippy Amtrak official bustles up to me and wants to know who I was, and what was I doing there?
   "Well, I think I'm one of the brakemen on #14 this morning."
   "Aren't you a bit out of uniform?" he asked.
   I was in a foul mood anyway, so I just unloaded on this little clown.
   "I am not here by choice," I growled.  "If you don't think I'm properly attired to work as a brakeman on that train, I'll just go home and you can get someone else."  You never saw someone back off so fast in your life!.
   Royal Vanderwall was the conductor, and Bo Golson was the other brakeman.  Bo was wearing an old brakeman's uniform that looked like something out of the 1890's.  Royal's jaw dropped when he took a look at his help for the day.  Bo asked me which end I wanted to work, since I was senior man, but Royal jumped right in and placed me on the rear end.  I guess he figured I was more out of uniform than Bo was.
   Now Royal Vanderwall was a good guy to work with, although a bit nervous at times.  I'd worked with him on freight many times, and we'd gotten along fine.
   Away we go!  Bo and I had made arrangements with B.B. Hagen, the engineer, to make the initial running test using the communicator buttons, but we forgot to tell Royal.  He about had a fit when he didn't hear us use the radio's.  The rest of the trip to SLO was mostly uneventful, but Amtrak was in the process of cutting over to a new reservation system, which totally screwed up the tickets on the train.  Duplicate sales in the sleepers, and so on.
   We get to San Luis Obispo, and tie up.  The next morning, Christmas morning, and not an open restaurant to be found.  Royal had an old car, so he rounded us all up, and we went to a beanry he knew would be open over around Morro Bay.  He took the call for the outbound train for all of us as we had Christmas brunch in this place on the Bay.
   The southbound trip was fairly uneventful, except the ticketing and reservations were even more screwed up than on the northbound leg.  Shorty Wheeler, the inbound conductor hadn't made any kind of an effort to straighten things up, so the train was a total mess.  Neither Bo or I were much help to Royal, since we were both freight guys and didn't know diddly about reservations and ticketing.
   And so ended a memorable Christmas way back when.

Brian Black
Castle Rock, CO

What a crew.. Bird brain as the engineer. I can see Van having a hissy fit about his two brake man not properly dressed to his standards.

I saw Bo at the annual old timers luncheon at Clear man's last week in Covina. He now lives near West Colton yard.

Posted from Android

SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
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> What a crew.. Bird brain as the engineer. I can
> see Van having a hissy fit about his two brake man
> not properly dressed to his standards.
>
> I saw Bo at the annual old timers luncheon at
> Clear man's last week in Covina. He now lives near
> West Colton yard.
>
> Posted from Android

Brian Hagen actually did a good smooth job with that long train in both directions.  Bill Aikens was his fireman.  Van didn't actually say too much about the uniforms other than what I mentioned.  He had his hands too full with the messed up reservations to worry too much about us. 

Brian B.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/26/25 16:25 by tehachcond.

These stories of real railroading are great, thanks!

Please, more stories like this...and diffrent too!

tehachcond Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What a crew.. Bird brain as the engineer. I can
> > see Van having a hissy fit about his two brake
> man
> > not properly dressed to his standards.
> >
> > I saw Bo at the annual old timers luncheon at
> > Clear man's last week in Covina. He now lives
> near
> > West Colton yard.
> >
> > Posted from Android
>
> Brian Hagen actually did a good smooth job with
> that long train in both directions.  Bill Aikens
> was his fireman.  Van didn't actually say too
> much about the uniforms other than what I
> mentioned.  He had his hands too full with the
> messed up reservations to worry too much about
> us. 
>
> Brian B.

Good story Brian. Wasn't it Bill Aikens who suffered a heart attack while at the throttle of the oil cans when the train was departing Bakersfield?

Keith_Kevet



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/25 18:59 by Keith_Kevet.

Okay...I couldn't help myself! As a Tucson Division Extra Board Engineer we were subject to 7 day stands in Yuma. So here I am in the pocket track by the Yuma yard office sitting on an SW1500 when #2 the Sunset arrives eastbound at the yard office to pick up passengers and change crews putting on the Tucson Division crew to go east. I start looking at the LA Division engine crew climbing off the P30CH. There is Jimmy Escalante, a friend of mine. He would put a "hold down" on the job as the entire regular crew would take vacation in the summer. I immedialy climb off the SW1500 to say Hi to him. As we're talking two of his Trainman come walking up and I start looking and notice no Amtrak uniforms! Two more good friends are in uniform wearing their SP Blue passenger uniforms pill box hat and all! There is, JP "Pat Bray"and MA "Bo" Golson. Its like old home week! They would work the job for 5 weeks while the regular crew were on vacation. I asked one of them about catching flack from the Amtrak people at LAUPT about the SP Blues. The answer came back something like...sc...w 'em. 

Yes Bill Akiens
-------------------- did suffer a heart attack at Edison and passed away. Bill was a fun guy but had alot of stress. His nickname was 2150 after the legendary Broderick Crawford. He worked for the CHP before working on the railroad. -----------------------------------
> tehachcond Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > What a crew.. Bird brain as the engineer. I
> can
> > > see Van having a hissy fit about his two
> brake
> > man
> > > not properly dressed to his standards.
> > >
> > > I saw Bo at the annual old timers luncheon at
> > > Clear man's last week in Covina. He now lives
> > near
> > > West Colton yard.
> > >
> > > Posted from Android
> >
> > Brian Hagen actually did a good smooth job with
> > that long train in both directions.  Bill
> Aikens
> > was his fireman.  Van didn't actually say too
> > much about the uniforms other than what I
> > mentioned.  He had his hands too full with the
> > messed up reservations to worry too much about
> > us. 
> >
> > Brian B.
>
> Good story Brian. Wasn't it Bill Aikens who
> suffered a heart attack while at the throttle of
> the oil cars when the train was departing
> Bakersfield?
>
> Keith_Kevet



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/28/25 09:16 by SanJoaquinEngr.

Keith_Kevet Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> tehachcond Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > What a crew.. Bird brain as the engineer. I
> can
> > > see Van having a hissy fit about his two
> brake
> > man
> > > not properly dressed to his standards.
> > >
> > > I saw Bo at the annual old timers luncheon at
> > > Clear man's last week in Covina. He now lives
> > near
> > > West Colton yard.
> > >
> > > Posted from Android
> >
> > Brian Hagen actually did a good smooth job with
> > that long train in both directions.  Bill
> Aikens
> > was his fireman.  Van didn't actually say too
> > much about the uniforms other than what I
> > mentioned.  He had his hands too full with the
> > messed up reservations to worry too much about
> > us. 
> >
> > Brian B.
>
> Good story Brian. Wasn't it Bill Aikens who
> suffered a heart attack while at the throttle of
> the oil cars when the train was departing
> Bakersfield?
>
> Keith_Kevet

That's the guy.  Not sure if it was the oil cans or not, but it was an eastbound train, and it occured before they left town as I recall.

Brian

Yes Bill was on the outbound oil train. He waiting for his helper engines to return from the mountain.
-------------------------------------------------------
> Keith_Kevet Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > tehachcond Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > SanJoaquinEngr Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > What a crew.. Bird brain as the engineer. I
> > can
> > > > see Van having a hissy fit about his two
> > brake
> > > man
> > > > not properly dressed to his standards.
> > > >
> > > > I saw Bo at the annual old timers luncheon
> at
> > > > Clear man's last week in Covina. He now
> lives
> > > near
> > > > West Colton yard.
> > > >
> > > > Posted from Android
> > >
> > > Brian Hagen actually did a good smooth job
> with
> > > that long train in both directions.  Bill
> > Aikens
> > > was his fireman.  Van didn't actually say
> too
> > > much about the uniforms other than what I
> > > mentioned.  He had his hands too full with
> the
> > > messed up reservations to worry too much
> about
> > > us. 
> > >
> > > Brian B.
> >
> > Good story Brian. Wasn't it Bill Aikens who
> > suffered a heart attack while at the throttle
> of
> > the oil cars when the train was departing
> > Bakersfield?
> >
> > Keith_Kevet
>
> That's the guy.  Not sure if it was the oil cans
> or not, but it was an eastbound train, and it
> occured before they left town as I recall.
>
> Brian

I hadn't heard about Bill passing.  He had great CHP stories.  I remember seeing him running an SW1500 at night at Gemco wearing a "tan uniform".......

spladiv Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I hadn't heard about Bill passing.  He had great
> CHP stories.  I remember seeing him running an
> SW1500 at night at Gemco wearing a "tan
> uniform".......

I talked to a fellow officer that worked with Bill. He told me Bill was caught several times by his sergeant taking a nap in the CHP car with his feet hanging out the window of his cruiser.

Posted from Android

Bill Aikins was Walter Nelson's son-in-law. You guys remember Walter? 

HardYellow Wrote:
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> Bill Aikins was Walter Nelson's son-in-law. You
> guys remember Walter? 

If you’re talking about the Walter Nelson who was the brother of Maurice Nelson, both Los Angeles division seniority district locomotive engineers; yes, I remember both. In fact, I went to Temple City High School with Maurice’s daughter, although I can’t remember her name as I type this.

Charlie

cewherry Wrote:
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> HardYellow Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Bill Aikins was Walter Nelson's son-in-law. You
> > guys remember Walter? 
>
> If you’re talking about the Walter Nelson who
> was the brother of Maurice Nelson, both Los
> Angeles division seniority district locomotive
> engineers; yes, I remember both. In fact, I went
> to Temple City High School with Maurice’s
> daughter, although I can’t remember her name as
> I type this.
>
> Charlie

Yeah...That's Walter. He was a LA Division Engineer, but worked the Palmdale Cutoff quite a lot. Great train handler, but had no use for the rule book. I was going to trade seniority with Bill Akins, but he died before we could make the deal. I remember,Bill was the engineer on the Oil Train when he had the heart attack. First time he had ever worked it. 
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/26 09:56 by HardYellow.

HardYellow Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> cewherry Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > HardYellow Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Bill Aikins was Walter Nelson's son-in-law.
> You
> > > guys remember Walter? 
> >
> > If you’re talking about the Walter Nelson who
> > was the brother of Maurice Nelson, both Los
> > Angeles division seniority district locomotive
> > engineers; yes, I remember both. In fact, I
> went
> > to Temple City High School with Maurice’s
> > daughter, although I can’t remember her name
> as
> > I type this.
> >
> > Charlie
>
> Yeah...That's Walter. He was a LA Division
> Engineer, but worked the Palmdale Cutoff quite a
> lot. Great train handler, but had no use for the
> rule book. I was going to trade seniority with
> Bill Akins, but he died before we could make the
> deal. I remember,Bill was the engineer on the Oil
> Train when he had the heart attack. First time he
> had ever worked it. 

You're right about his relationship with Walter Nelson.  I'd forgotten that.  As a side note, Walter always wanted to run a bus service between Yuma and Las Vegas.  However, he couldn't get insurance without permits, and couldn't get permits without insurance. Sounds like the existing bus outfits might have had something to do with that.  Years later, after he retired, the wife and I took a train into Bakersfield and were going to ride one of the connecting buses home.  Guess  who was driving the bus?  Walter!  I was looking for awild ride, but he did a highly professional job of bus handling.

Brian
>