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The theme for the north end this week was business as usual. The second to last boat train has now returned with the empty hoppers and is safely stored in Latta Yard much to the chagrin of the planner. Better there than in my sidings. The 240s and 241s of this world are working as usual between Chicago and Terre Haute. Thankfully the trains are only requiring 1 recrew instead of the insanity of multiple ones.
I was looking over that whole situation the other day and I have come up with some interesting theories. Urban mythology, speculation, call them what you will ... I still believe they are valid. It goes something like this:
Long ago when the Earth was young and the sky was pure, in a land of great verticalness there lived a boy named Harbor. Harbor was a good kid. He worked hard and helped the bigger kids with their chores, all the while dreaming of the day when he would be one of the bigger kids. He would run hither and fro doing the work the big boys told him to do. And through the years Harbor watched with admiration as the big boys grew up and achieved monolithic proportions.
Then one day it dawned on Harbor that he had not grown like the other boys. Of course he had eaten his Wonder Bread (it makes you grow in 12 ways, right?). He had eaten his vegetables. And still nothing. So he decided to go to the doctor and have himself checked out. So the doctor gives Harbor a physical, and tells Harbor he's just fine. Boys grow at different rates and eventually his time would come. Satisfied with the doctor's prognosis, Harbor again went about his business. Years passed, and as the big boys grew even more he still noticed a lack of, well, shall we say manhood. So one day Harbor confronts his friends.
First he talks to the Red man from the north. Harbor cannot get anything intelligent from this Red man, mostly because they speak in a dialect called Molsonese.
So Harbor next talks to the Yellow man from the west. The Yellow man tells him to just do whatever he wants and to forget being a good guy. Good guys finish last, you know. Remember kid, it's size and not skill that counts.
Harbor next talks to the Blue man from the south. The Blue man tells him to just tell everyone where to go and do whatever he wants. You don't need to answer to anybody, OK? Harbor ponders this, and then talks to the Green man.
The Green man reminds Harbor that if you can't be good, then at least be big. After that, then the next best bet is to be cocky. Both would be the best. Harbor contemplates this while looking for the Maroon man from Cheddar Land.
Where is the Maroon man? Oh, he's out working with customers. The rest all laugh. Geez, what a fool! He doesn't know how to play the game does he? Look kid, just do what we do and you'll be OK. So Harbor says OK.
So as Harbor is going back to his chores with a new outlook on life, he bumps into the Black man of the east. Harbor proudly, and arrogantly, proclaims he has seen the light an now knows the ways of the world. The Black man simply reminds him that they are a lot bigger and he can do whatever he wants...as long as the big boys like it, or else... Harbor never considered that.
The last time I saw Harbor he was still a little boy in big man's clothing. And I was almost sure I saw some bruises.
Whenever I come into work, one of the first things I do is pause for a moment outside the tower and look in both directions for headlights. Not that I,m particularly safety conscious or anything like that. It has more to do with parked trains. When the wheels stop turning the trouble begins.
So as I came into work the other day I noticed a headlight on the Soo main. I was hoping maybe it was 241. I was indeed wrong. It was the Cayuga train. Yes, the Cayuga train that is supposed to be delivered to Cayuga by 10:00 every morning. Looking at the train sheet, the same Cayuga train that was ordered the previous evening. OK, what,s up? Well it seems the CSX dropped the ball yet again. The story unfolded something like this:
The CSX has that T540 train which works between Chinook Mine on the Riley spur, and Merom Generating Station on the INRD. Whenever T540 is on the branch loading, the CSX doesn't really like to put trains on the spur ahead of him. However, they will put Cayugas there when T540 is just returning because he usually won't come back out until the next morning. So there is plenty of time to get the Cayugas out of the way before T540 comes out. So this very scenario begins to play out.
T540 returns from Merom with his 104 empties and goes out to Chinook at about 18:00. Nothing new here. So second trick arranges to bring the Cayugas up. So up they come. When the crew attempts to get authority to put the loads to the Riley, the CSX says nyet. They have T540 on the spur (yea, like we didn't know that) and he can't put anything out there until after he leaves. What!!??! Well, turns out the regular chief must be on vacation and this guy filling in doesn't know any better. So here we sit with this 100 car coal train on the main and no where to go with it.
So they back the train to Keller so the XL can (with a little bit of zigging and zagging) get around him. After the XL makes the round trip this Cayuga train is again brought to the hill. CSX still balks, even after the corridor manager "confers" with the CSX chief. So now the PSI coal buyer calls in the AM, as he does every day, to see how his trains did. The Wabash Rivers did well. The Cayugas....well, not so good. So he gets just a little excited and comes to the tower to personally witness the interchange and note the times. So the V501 counterpart from Cayuga makes it with the empties to Spring Hill at something like 11:30! Thank goodness I didn't have any road trains in the picture or things would have gotten very ugly indeed.
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One nice thing about being an employee for the railroad is you don't have to beg for a cab ride. As a dispatcher, whenever I want to take a familiarization trip I just go. |
So yesterday I get a call from an engineer I know. "What you doing today?"
"Watching paint peel."
"Not any more. We just got called to bring 241 to the hill from Latta. Interested?"
"10-4. What time?"
"16:30"
"See you there."
And with that the deed is done. So I look at my clock. Geez, 14:30. Got a lot of time. I look outside. 96 degrees. HMMMM. Then I think (which I do very little of these days) ... 241. Oh yea, called him this morning at Louisville. Wait a minute, what was that power? OH YES! CSXT 7537, CSXT 7843! GEs! I'm there! So I run errands and all that good stuff. When I show up at Van, no crew. HMMMM. Oh ##@%&$$! Time difference!
For the unfamiliar, Indiana doesn't make the switch (at least here in Terre Haute) to daylight time. However, the railroad does. So for the summer, we live with two times. The crew is called for railroad time. I still have the clocks on for city time! So I call Bob at the tower and ask him how that relief is doing. They will be at Latta for a while. Great!
So I drive to Latta. As I'm coming into Lewis I hear Bob give this guy a warrant to come north! NO!!! So I...well, let's just say exercise some Pontiac muscle. As I'm coming into Jasonville the train hasn't left yet! Whew! So I embark at the Main Street crossing and we're off.
We have the GEs, and the Soo 2036 added on. We no sooner get about 2 miles out of the yard when the alarm bells go off. The 2036 died! The train is about 60 cars long and about 4500 tons so it's no problem for the 7537, but the engineer wants the 2036 for insurance. So myself and the conductor walk back to restart it. Talk about a rush! Walk from unit to unit at 40 mph for kicks once! Come to find out the 7843 is dead. Now that's the unit I wish we had! Man those things are high in the air! So inside the 2036 we find the Turbo Pump Aux. Light lit like a candle. The conductor walks back and using "gentle persuasion" coaxes it back to life.
The 2036 has some....well, call them "editorials" all over the inside of the cab. You know, things like "Junk this piece of #%@!&&", "Sell to IMRL" ,"Windows leak", and all of that good stuff. And I can't help but think back in time when these GP-40s held the Sprint jobs, the hottest thing on the Milwaukee. Or when they worked 263, the XL Special. THE hottest train on the Milwaukee from Chicago to Tacoma. Thundering through Miles City, struggling up the Vendome Loop, crossing the continental divide, coaxing 263 up Boyleston Hill at Doris. And now reduced to this. Oh well.
So with the 2036 back on line we go back to the 7537. The engineer tells me the air conditioner is not working in the unit otherwise he would think about putting it on. With the windows down, though, at 40 mph the "air conditioning" is adequate. So we bee-bop across the Indiana countryside, the engineer pointing out local land marks. And just as I'm settling in, we arrive at the hill! Very neat but just too short! So now the world knows what I do on my off days!
Riddle me this, Batman. Why is it the CSX will say to run a train only to put him in the hole at, say Pekin, for 5 hours? This has been happening a lot lately. The 3rd trick CF will say bring on that 241 or 240 only to have 1st trick stick him big time. And the best part is there is no meet taking place or anything like that. They just sit because of "congestion". So I call the NS at Louisville and inquire about this "congestion". No trains in the near future! HMMMMM. Sounds kinda fishy to me.
And the other little "CSX-ism" is when they have a train dead on the main at Mitchell and my trains can't get by. Now I may not be the Einstein of the midwest, but I do know that when I have a train that's going to die I put it away somewhere. I do not leave it on the main. To me that's just basic. Maybe I could be a CSX manager! So anyway, they keep getting the shaft that way also. It becomes just a little frustrating to move traffic when confronted with the CSX.
OOPS, there I go again. Beating up the CSX. I feel a signal failure in front of Q128 coming on!
The Effingham Turn is the IC job that comes over every evening to interchange with the INRD. Called 19:00 at Effingham, they work over to Newton and interchange with the Rob 2 (second shift Robinson switch engine) and then return to Effingham. Usually they have 2 GP-10s and the most laid back conductor on the planet.
So on a particularly nasty evening, with storms and tornadoes and all of that happiness going on, they call for a warrant to come over. On a night like this! I had been listening to NOAA Weather Radio on 162.4 from Putnamville as well as the Illiana Skywarn Net in Terre Haute, and the situation was not good: tornado warning for Effingham! So I tell them to be on the lookout for possible funnel activity.
"Oh, you mean that little cone shaped cloud that went by here about 20 minutes ago! Yea, we saw it and thought it looked kinda neat!"
OK gang, what's wrong with this picture? So I tell them they're just a little too out of control for me.
And then the other day I was talking to the crew on the SALI job (Senate Avenue, Indianapolis to Linton) and the hogger remarks that he likes the Laments! What? People actually read this drivel? Yikes! I guess I better watch my Ps and Qs. Maybe that's why the CSX gives us such a hard time!
Hawthorn Power: CSX GP-whatevers, usually without working radios.
Maysville Power: SOO 4405 - SOO 4648 (GP38-2, GP-40)
Farmersburg Power: CP 5722 - CP 6409 - CP 6016 (SD40-2, SD40A, SD40-2)
Van Yard Engine: SOO 4601 (GP-40)
Roadswitcher Power: SOO 2066 - SOO 4442 - SOO 4428 - SOO 4509 (GP38-2s and GP-40s)
XL Power: CP 5860 - CP 5789 (SD40-2s)
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Editorial content (C) 1998 Mike Dettmers
