Storytime with Charlie

Charlie Mar 31, 2007

  1. Charlie

    Charlie TrainBoard Member

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    Yes, There were a couple of places that had "regulars" The Laverne stop on the Aurora Race Track usually had several watchers and photographers. One guy did a lot of video taping and I usually saw him chatting with a youth about 12 or 13. One day I didn't see the kid so I asked him where his son was. He was puzzled by that and I repeated the question and found out the kid he talked to all the time was just another railfan. ANYWAY I would always ask this guy when he would let me see his videos. Finally he told me that he would show me his videos when I got my engineer's card. Well.....when I finally got my card, I couldn't hold an engineer's job so I went back to train service on the dinkies. The first time I saw this movie guy I waved my card at him and asked him to show me his videos. I'm still waiting LOL! The other location was a bit "busier" it was at the McClure Rd grade crossing at the west end of Eola yard. There was a private road leading to a lumber facility and there was sort of a "no man's land" area on the southeast side of that grade crossing. Normally there were several vehicles there train watching and sometimes taking photos. Every so often I would chat with the fans. They wouldn't bother us while we were making a move, but would ask questions when action was stopped or during a wait. With that group however, they were never there when the weather was crappy so they never got to see railroading when there was really something to see, like a T-storm when lighting was flying all over the place or during a blizzard when you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Sometimes I would see a fan or fans on the train with their cameras at the ready. I would give them tips on what to look for that they might find photo worthy. Mostly railfans were never bothersome. We had a couple who asked if we could do certain things but that is a whole 'nuther story.

    Charlie
     
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  2. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Charlie, on another thread Boxcab mentioned MILW train order signals and it got me to thinking.

    In the era of written train orders, how did an engineman on a fast train know that he was to take orders just ahead? If his train was moving at a fast clip, he might not have time enough to slow or stop the train. Were there distant signals for train order signals?
     
  3. Charlie

    Charlie TrainBoard Member

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  4. Charlie

    Charlie TrainBoard Member

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    Train orders are a bit before my time, but When I hired on there were still some stations that used train orders on a somewhat modified basis. They were more like track warrants than orders. At any rate crews knew which stations issued train orders and they could see the train order boards as they approached. if they were in a STOP indication that would mean that new orders would be issued, the engineer would whistle acknowledgement of the order board, the agent would then clear the board and hoop the orders up. If the operator didn't clear the board the train would have to stop and await orders. Train orders could be hooped up to a train at track speed. Trains also operated on a time table and by class of train and generally the highest class of trains had priority over all others and their orders were fairly simple ie "run from point A to Z and meet train ….. at point D instead of C.. There are signals known as "distant signals" but they have nothing to do with train order systems. "Distant Signals" only indicate a transition from dark territory to a signaled territory and on the BNSF they displayed only two indications, Approach or Stop.
     
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  5. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Thanks Charlie -- neat stuff you explained. I always thought that it would have been a hair-raising job for an op or agent to stand on a platform to hoop up orders while a train approached at track speed. I grew up in northern IL and Barrington Tower on the EJ&E had a fixed fork as seen here (I think the fork swung away when the orders were grabbed?) and a mighty fancy train order signal. I shot this in 1984. That's the C&NW's double track main.

    1984 Barrington Tower - for upload.jpg
     
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  6. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    They were still hooping up orders at Tower 17 until the UP closed it in 2004. Here the Sunset Limited just grabbed a flimsy as it barreled by. The train order mast can be seen between the tower and the locomotive with its two wands sprung back to vertical positions.There were three different sockets to hang orders from at three different levels on the mast.
    [​IMG]

    When the mechanical "hoop" is loaded the two wands are heald together with a loop of string with the flimsy tied to it. When the train crew grabs the flimsy, the string comes with it and releases the wands to spring out of the way.
    IMG_4078.jpg
     
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  7. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Ah ha -- so that's how it works. I see a counterweight on the arm in my EJ&E photo and it all makes sense now. I see a different sort of circular mechanism at Tuscola, IL at the IC's tower that appears to drop the arm down after the orders are grabbed. I shot this 10/21/1990.

    1990-10-21 Tuscola IL.jpg
     
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  8. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

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    Depending on how fast the train was going, wouldn't that string kinda' hurt at higher speeds?? Especially passenger trains going as high as 79mph, that would really whip your arm when you snagged it!:confused:

    Especially if you had short sleeves on!
     
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  9. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    You had to be tough to work on the railroad.[​IMG]
     
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  10. Charlie

    Charlie TrainBoard Member

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    As I understand, it required nerves of steel to manually hoop up the orders plus you had to have unobscured vision in lousy weather because you had to wait for the caboose and hoop them their orders.

    Charlie
     
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  11. Charlie

    Charlie TrainBoard Member

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    Just keeping the thread current. Any questions about railroads or electric tration(interurbans,streetcars,heavy electric locos)?

    Charlie
     
  12. BarstowRick

    BarstowRick TrainBoard Supporter

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    Keep bringing your stories here. Appreciating them.
     
  13. r_i_straw

    r_i_straw Mostly N Scale Staff Member

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    OK, here is one. A friend of mine who worked for the SP told me that when a train was occupying a track, moving or not, that all headlights both front and rear if they had them, were supposed to be illuminated. Some locomotives like B units had no headlights and some steam engines did not have a light on the tender so the rule did not apply there. Was this true for all railroads, or was this guy just pulling my leg?
     
  14. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Charlie, I have a question about railroad radio. With nearly 100 channels assigned to U.S. railroads, are the radios in locomotive cabs set up to receive and transmit only on a handful of specific channels used on the line it normally serves? I'd think the railroads would need to make it easy for crews to select regularly used channels. Thanks!
     
  15. BarstowRick

    BarstowRick TrainBoard Supporter

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    • I think you've been bafooned. ;)
    Someone is pulling your leg. I watched switch crews switch the Hollister, Ca. yard during my growing years. I never once saw both lights lit up at both ends at the same time. Unless, in preparation for a reverse move. Then the front lights are dimmed. But even then in a reverse move to shove a car or string of cars, a light lighting up the rear end of a box car isn't going to help much. These lights could be blinding to the crews working off the motor (diesel GP9's). So, they were careful to use only the illumination they needed.

    Sounds like a toy train enthusiast justifying having a locomotive that has lights lit at both ends.o_O:whistle::confused::cool:
     
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  16. BarstowRick

    BarstowRick TrainBoard Supporter

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    I'm not Charle. So I do hope you don't mind my two cents.
    A visit to one of the cabooses on display in Barstow, Ca., at the W.A.R.M. (Western American Railroad Museum). A chat with a former freight conductor and Santa Fe Switchman (not turnout man). They showed me the radio they use to chat with each other. It still worked. It's limited to pre-set channels, unlike my scanner. He was able to talk to the tower and a switch grew they used to work with. Simply the channels for AT&SF and SP if and when on SP Trackage, IE., Tehachapi Pass which which was formerly SP's claim to fame.

    Am I right Charlie?

    Watching Virtual Railfans live streaming cam at Santa Fe Junction, Kansas your choice of state. Noisy and slow.
     
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  17. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

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    Just my two cents;
    Trains that I see with DPU's always have a rear headlight on dim status as a way of protecting the rear, if no FRED is used on the train, but that is FRA mandated nowadays.


    Now steam locos always had a trailing light for back-up moves, and B-units all have atleast a small single headlight for back-up moves as well on both ends of the loco. But as far as when doing switching moves and such, unless someone left the headlight on, I've never seen one used.
     
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  18. Charlie

    Charlie TrainBoard Member

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    No, your buddy was not pulling your leg. It is a safety rule. Display a headlight on high beam whenever occupying a main track, dim only at a meet and do so as soon as the other train is visible, or dim when in a siding and occupied. Turn off only when motive power is tied up and unoccupied or as otherwise instructed. A highly visible marker must be on the end of your train. That can be red marker lights if your power is still equipped with such or the headlight on low beam. A F.R.E.D. is considered a highly visible marker. On trains that aren't equipped with a FRED, sueh as an industry switch A highly visible marker can be a red flag in daylight At night you better have a lantern or FRED or a lot of red fusees!
    The railroads are serious about that stuff and if you don't comply you might be taking a forced "vacation" for a lengthy period.
    On the Aurora Subdivision of the BNSF, Highways parallel the railroad quite a bit. At night semi-trucks approaching an oncoming train will usually blink their headlights to signal the engineer to dim his headlight. By rule you CANNOT do that! Some hoggers will dim momentarily as matter of courtesy, but just as many wont dim. If anything happens during that dim period , you can kiss your keister good-bye! if you think a loco headlight is bright, you should see the ones on the tow boats and river paddleboats on the Mississippi and other rivers. They are really BRIGHT!!! The towboats and trains along the Mississippi, north of Savanna IL will trade whistle greetings! A really scenic ride in all seasons. I miss it!
     
  19. Charlie

    Charlie TrainBoard Member

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    The channels are different now than when I was working(different frequencies) Normally the handsets have a selection pre-set channels. IIRC we had 6 at Eola. A couple of them were for the BRC since we did a lot of transfer work with them. The locomotive radios may also have pre-set channels but you can also dial in a frequency. At that time all the CN FREDs were on the same frequency. A hogger I worked with knew that frequency and if he found that someone had a CN FRED on their train(We used to handle CN trains out of Chicago) he would dial it in on his radio, and dump the air on the train with the CN FRED. It was a real "jerk"thing to do, but considering that hogger…..

    Charlie
     
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  20. Charlie

    Charlie TrainBoard Member

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    just had a thought. Back in 2009 IIRC, SP 4449 (The Daylight Loco) did a trip to a steam engine gathering in Michigan. It traveed on BSNF for much of its trip and there are "foamer" videos of it in various locations. A couple of them are on the C & I and there is one of a crew Change at Eola yard. that one you should check out and you can see some of the things I've talked about. I'll check around to see if I can find a link. If anyone else finds it, check it out and if you have questions , let me know and I'll try to explain what you are looking at

    Charlie
     
    Last edited: Oct 24, 2019
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