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OK, so everyone gets to listen to me beef about things, right? The other night I was talking to one of the conductors here and I was kinda crying the blues. I am then informed I have the good life compared to an extra board conductor. So I asked him to write a little ditty about his escapades riding those snakes of steel on the iron highways of Indiana. He obliged quite willingly and the following is the routine of one conductor on one day working a dog catch to Bensenville.
November 24, 1998
"A usual day on the railroad starts with the dreaded beeping
of your
pager. The number that starts out 1-888 is a sign that you better
be
prepared to go to work in 2 hrs. I have just woken up after
sleeping-in for the first time in 3 or 4 days. The unpredictableness
of
what job, what time, and where your going is always an extra-board
workers worst night-mare. In my case I am single, and only have
me to
rely on. So as you can imagine the laundry is never done, and
the
dishes never washed, due to the fact that this job takes me away
a great
deal of the time. On this particular day, I have been called to
dogcatch (a train that has gone its 12 hrs of service is usually
referred to as a dogged train, thus the word dogcatch.) train
241 at
Blue Island, Illinois. After a mad dash to see what clothes are
clean, I
pack "Big Red" my 300 pound clothing grip. I then arrive
at call time
1745 today at Terre Haute's Van yard office. I then proceed to
get the
CSX , UP, IHB orders that are required to get to Chicago. Today
my
engineer is Mr. Shaffer, he has been running up north for some
time, and
knows the routine well. The most boring part of the trip is about
to
take place, the trip to Blue Island, supposing that the train
is even
there. The cab ride there is usually a long, smoky trip. After
grabbing a bite to eat, my engineer and I head to Kentland, Indiana
where I will contact my dispatcher, to exactly pinpoint where
my train
may be. 241 has only made it to the rock pile (the approach to
Thorton
JCT. diamond with the GTW), Mike said that the previous crew has
already
de-trained and is headed to the Hotel in Elmhurst, Illinois.
2100 p.m.: After arriving at the rock pile, we find,
unit numbers
CP 5733 and SD40M 9017, calmly idling. After kicking off 5 hand
brakes,
and Mr. Shaffer has inspected the engines. We tried to get a hold
of
the UP dispatcher in Omaha, after several in-vain tries we finally
get
a hold of the UP yard center. They in-turn contacted the dispatcher,
who
in turn got a hold of us. The report was an Amtrak train was ahead
of
us, either going on, or off the GTW, and after he cleared he would
move
us up We had a average size train tonight, 40 loads, and 16 empties.
5897 tons.
2255 p.m.: We have finally moved and are now sitting
in the middle of
a traffic jam. UP has switchers all around us. The delay is probably
brought-on by the IHB' s "stick it to the CP" attitude.
At least 99% of
the time we are always put last. Mr. Shaffer is now attempting
to get
a-hold of the IHB Dolton tower operator. Looks like we will be
here
awhile.
0045 a.m.: Well not so good so far, we are now at the
Ashland Ave.
shanty, awaiting permission, to move on down the line. Ashland
Ave.
shanty, is a shanty on the West part of the Blue Island Yard where,
you
must stop and contact the IHB dispatcher to move further due to
the fact
the next signal may be red and we could block railroad crossings.
0320 a.m.: Once we got past the Ashland Ave. shanty,
we really moved
along well, of course until we got a red signal at 87th street.
There
is a blinking light ahead of a EOTD, so who knows how long we
will be
here.
0340 a.m.: That wasn't so bad only an eight minute wait
but of course
all good things must come to an end the EOTD that was ahead is
still up
ahead here at 71st St. . 71st street is where the CSX just put
a new
connection switches in for the BRC yard. So all is pretty new
here for
me.
0450 a.m.: After 71st street we have booked right along,
we made a
brief stop at the CCP interchange track to re-line the switches
for the
main. We are now at Norpaul yard, the Northern most reach of the
IHB.
All we need to do now is, call the chief at Bensenville (our away
from
home terminal), and contact B-12 Metra dispatcher.
0520 a.m: We finally made it 25 minutes before we die.
We have
arrived to take the 6 lead into A-5 yard to yard the train. After
yarding the train we catch a van to the Hotel where we tie up.
The day
will soon start again on a 240 south."
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Editorial content (C) 1998 Mike Dettmers
