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• 1 media/21JewelWatch.jpg media/21JewelWatch.jpg 2020-05-11T08:27:12-07:00 The Day Begins 117 an outline of normal events from the start of the day at 1:30 p.m. image_header 2024-11-05T12:34:33-08:00

  1:30 p.m.  Receive a call to report at 3:00 p.m.

  We did 12 and 16-hour days.  On 16-hour days, you fix yourself a thermos of coffee, get something to eat – and in my case, when I first started, I’d get up and fix my own food.  I learned to cook, fixed myself, usually some eggs and bacon.  That was it.
  
  I'd pack myself a lunch, back in those first days – you carried lunch with you, carry a half gallon thermos of black coffee.  Nobody drank cream or sugar in their coffee.  You wanted that coffee as hot as you could get it and black.  You work this job for 16 hours.  So, I’d get out there and get on to work and go down to the train. [listen to audio clip here 36:50]
  • Dress and pack grip (travel bag) with appropriate gear and lunch:
  • 21 Jewel Watch
  When I first went out, I had an Illinois, which was silver, and I had a Hamilton which was gold, and was given to me by a conductor who was retiring.  I wore a Hamilton on passenger.  I wore a silver pocket watch, and it was 21 Jewel. You had to take it to a jeweler every 30 days and have it inspected.  You couldn’t be more than three seconds off with your time. The time at all the stations was set.  [listen to audio clip here 39:45]
  • Camera – to take pictures of an accident
  The first time I went to work, I worked for a conductor by the name of Johnny Murphy.  Johnny Murphy told me, he said, 'Gary, do you have a camera in your grip?' and I said, No.  and he said, 'When we get to Des Moines, I'll get you a ride and we’ll get you a camera.' So we went up to a camera store, and I got a little box camera, that is back when we carried those little box cameras.  And he said, 'Do not never leave home without this and without plenty of film.' And I said, Why?  And he said, 'Because Gary, you are the first one if you go out and have an accident, you or the brakeman, you’ll be the first one, or maybe be the second one in a derailment – take your pictures.'  And so, he showed me how to take them, so I made a list. I kept a notebook of different things I had to do as a brakeman, because later on it came out real good as an engineer. [listen to audio clip here 56:18]
  • Key Ring Chain
  There were various railroad keys, one of which was a switch key.  This barrel-shaped brass key secured railroad track switches and prevented tampering.
  • Lineman pliers – to cut barbed wire fence to repair air hoses, etc.
  One of the things I learned is you needed a pair of pliers with you in your pocket.  Bib overalls had those little pockets. If you had air hoses that weren't stayin' together, you'd go over and cut a piece of barbed wire fence off a farmer's fence and you'd  start on one end and wrap it across the other end.  That way when they tried to pull apart, they'd pull the barbs into the hose and they wouldn't come apart. But there was a bad thing about that too, in the fact that it would not let the switchman separate them [the car]. They had to get a carman out there and he'd have to unwire 'em. So when you got in, you'd better tell somebody that you wired up certain section cars. [listen to audio clip here 4:10]
  • Bib overalls or blue jeans – pockets needed
  We all wore, 90% of us wore, bib overalls. We wore blue jeans. Blue denim or blue denim jackets are something you saw all over the railroad.  Pockets were needed to carry tools, etc.
  • “Seasoned” Kromer hats
  It's a soft hat, but we made it firm. What you would do with your Kromer, is you would soak 'em in starch. We'd get these aluminum rings that had a slit, you cut a slit in there, and you put a nut on there and you would adjust it out so that it was your size. Then you'd set the kromer on it so it would firm.  I carried one in my grip and I had a third one in case I got one dirty because they did not want you wearing nasty hats. On passenger trains, the supervisor or the agent at the terminal, they'd come by and take your hat off and see if your sweatband was sweaty. If they did, you got demerits for it. So you'd take it home, take the band off and we polished it. Just like you did with your shoes. Back in those days  you'd throw it in about six inches of Silex [cleaner] with water and let it soak. Then you'd take a brush and scrub it, and get it all clean. Then you'd put it on the band again and you'd hang it up. We wore the flat ones [hats], the kind the Air Force wore. They were floppy. [listen to audio clip here 10:09]
  • Long sleeved shirt for protection of skin - "We  wore long sleeved shirts even in the summertime because of the fact of what you're out there doing."
     
  • Denim jackets (blanket lined) or heavy coat in winter – fleece lined gabardine with a hood or a parka
  You'd carry heavy coats in the winter time in case you had to get out of the car and go underneath the train which, the first time I didn't. I just had a top coat. And number seven got a hot box.  We had to set it out.  I had to go underneath there with a fusee and move it so I could get steam back through the train because the steam had turned to ice. And so I'd start with the engine and work all the way to the end. Well, by the time we set that out and got back on the train, I froze my fingertips, froze my ears, and froze my toes. So when I got back on the train, the conductor told me, he said 'Gary, just go sit in that rear car and we'll have the rear brakeman do your work. Don't get off unless you see you have to. Just start warmin' up.'  [listen to audio clip here 11:55]
  
  After I had that little ice incident, I went back up to Chicago to Marshall Fields and I got me a coat that was fleece-lined. A big blue Gabardine coat that had a big hood. I had a kromer that was black. It had pull down flaps that I carried in my grip with me. I had gloves, and I had pocket warmers that we used to have to put in our pockets. They fit inside my gloves and I'd keep my hands warm."[listen to audio clip here 12:53]
  • Fitted Leather Gloves – loose gloves could get caught and cause dangerous accidents
  You've seen these truckers with the leather gloves where you pull 'em tight [leather wrist strap for cinching]?  That's the thing, you'd pull 'em tight. You'd have nothing loose. None of the guys wore a wedding ring because you'd get up there in the engine and the main generator would arc over. I got a place on my wrist right here that will never heal, that hair will never grow because I had  a main generator arc over and made my watch mold to my wrist, and I had to go get a new watch. [listen to audio clip here 13:34]
  • Low heeled boots – boots with heels could get caught, steel toed were required later on
  When I first started in '63, you had to wear a boot. A lot of guys, including myself, wore cowboy boots with a low heel. You could not wear the high heel which could get caught. Dirt and certain things got up in the heel.  You had to wear the flat heel.  In 1969, when I came back, everybody had to wear tall boots with steel toes. They changed the rules between '63 and '69 because somebody got their foot smashed, including my dad.  [listen to audio clip here 14:16]
  • Extra uniform – in case one got soiled – soot or ash, grease and dirt from repair
  • Lunch and half-gallon thermos of hot black coffee  Back in those first days – you carried lunch with you, carry a half gallon thermos of black coffee.  Nobody drank cream or sugar in their coffee.  You wanted that coffee as hot as you could get it and black.  You worked the job for 16 hours.  [listen to audio clip here 37:12]
  • Time Book
  Everybody had a time book. That’s how you kept your time.  The conductor would fill out a time slip for himself and the two brakemen.  The engineer would fill out a time slip for himself and the fireman.
  
  You had a stamp with your name and ID number.  You fill out what time you went on duty and what time you went off duty. The conductor had to fill out a report of how many cars he had, and the engineer filled out a report of how many engines were on the train, because the engineers got paid on weight on drivers and the conductor got paid for the number of cars – if he had 81 or more cars, you got a different rate than if you had less than 81.  When you got to 105, it was a different rate. When you got to 135, it was a different rate, so the more cars you had - and they had an accumulated rate, so I may have 30 cars out of Iowa City and pick up 45 more, so all of that 75 would add to the car rate. It was the conductor’s job to keep up with the paperwork to make sure the brakemen got paid right.  [listen to audio clip here 53:41]

  3:00 p.m. Arrive at the yard

  Stamp time book (all train employees)
  Synchronize Jewel 21 watch
  Check the rules
  Do a check of the tracks
  
  RAILWAY PERSONNEL TASKS: Each member of the train crew has specific tasks to perform before the train leaves the station.
  
  Engineer: Pumps air into the train’s brakes
  
  Silvis was a major hub yard. They had air in the tracks so when the switchman shut the train and it was ready to go, they’d go get the caboose. They’d hook an air hose to part of the train, and they’d pump air into the train to check the brakes. Then, when you got there, you’d turn that handle. It was on the ground.  You’d just turn that handle, open the air up, cut your air very gently, you save the air, then you’d turn on the air so it’d bleed that hose off so it would release and come apart. Then, you cut the air in the engine, then you cut it back in. All I do is walk the track because they had already checked to make sure we didn’t have any leaks.  [listen to audio clip here 30:45]
  
  Engineer: Board caboose, complete required paperwork, number of engines, etc.
  
  Conductor: Complete Car report – car numbers, contents, destination, gross tons
  Check waybills from the chief clerk against cars – make sure bills line up (documents match car contents)
  Des Moines bills first
  Read train orders (Rule 214) – which gives direct instruction to the crew and shows the number, date of issue, and name of station where copied (Rule 202).
  Separate waybills and put the Omaha bills in one bundle.  All other bills clipped together.
  
   As the conductor, you get your waybills from the chief clerk. You go down and the train will pull in, coming up from Chicago and it was a run-through train. It didn't get switched or anything. So you'd go down and they would drive you down the train and you would check your bills and make sure all your bills lined up. You'd get your Des Moines bills because you had Des Moines [cars] set out on the rear end and you'd check it and make sure it was all right. You'd get on the caboose and you'd write all your paperwork out. You'd have a pad that looks like one of these Big Chief [writing] tablets and you'd write it out.
  
  And as you went by the open station at Davenport, Iowa you'd hold it  [orders shaped into a cone] up, you'd take led that we used to put the torpedoes on and you'd pull the led out and wrap it around it and you'd throw it out to the agent at Davenport, Iowa like a cone. He would get it and he would send it to Des Moines and let 'em know what was coming and all that kind of stuff.  [listen to audio clip here 20:35]
  
  Head Brakeman:  Goes to the roundhouse with the firemen and the engineer to get the engines and put them on the train.
  
  He does whatever the conductor wants him to do. When he's the head brakeman, he learns to run an engine, because your old engineers will tell you,  'I don’t have a fireman on the job.'  And at that time they were going through the rule changes and getting rid of the firemen on a lot of crews. They passed a law that they only needed firemen on certain jobs. So the ones that didn't have 'em, the engineer says [to the brakeman] 'I'm 65 or I'm 70 years of age. If I have a heart attack over here, I want you to be able to pull right over to that crossing and stop.'  So, you learned to run the engine, and when you're on the ground, you learned to pick up: pick up cars, set out cars, block cars, whatever else you had to do, change out air hoses. [listen to audio clip here 3:21]
  
  The head brakeman would go to the roundhouse if he had to get engines. He would go with the firemen and the engineer and they'd bring the engines out and put them on the train. They get the engines out, put it on, and so when you got there, you turned that handle that was on the ground, open the air up, you’d cut your air very gently, you’d save the air, and you’d bleed that hose off so that it would easily come apart. Then you’d cut the air in from the engine and cut it back in, and then all they had to do was walk the set because they’d already checked everything, all the cars to make sure they didn’t have any leaks in ‘em.  [listen to audio clip here 31:05]
  
  Rear Brakeman:  Walks the tracks and make sure all brake riggings are in good shape, also helps with switching
  
  He checks for four things:  shoes, rigging, retainer valves, hand brakes.
  The rear brakeman would go down and walk the track, and he would check and make sure all the brake riggings were in good shape. He'd double check the carman's work. He'd make sure of the retainer valves because you did not want the wheels getting hot going across the flat track. Make sure that the markers had oil in them so they'd light, because they weren't electric when I first started. They were kerosene lit.   [listen to audio clip here 27:08]
  
  Carman: Inspects and performs maintenance on freight cars.
  
  The carmen took the train and they would work the air, make sure there was air going through all the cars. They’d set the brakes. They’d walk the set.  Now most trains in most major yards, like Silvis was a major hub yard, they had air in the tracks, so when the switchman shut the train in, it was ready to go. They’d go get the caboose ready to go.  They’d hook an air hose to the front of the train and pump air into the train, so the carman could check the brakes.  [listen to audio clip here 30:45]
  
  Conductor: rides down the track after brakeman
  
  So you’d walk the set, the conductor would be brought back down, like I said, he would be doing his bills, get on the caboose, and then you’d call the dispatcher and tell him you’re ready to pull  out and he would guide you out of the switches coming out of the yard.  You’d come out of the yard and you’d start taking signals in the ABS territory.  So when you left Silvis, the first thing you did was you went down to Davenport, then to Iowa City. It was a double track. You had a track going east and a track going west – you’d be going west, and the first time something come up – they had stations along the way at little places – and if they needed to they could get somebody to get you some orders there, but your first orders were at West Liberty.  [listen to audio clip here 31:29]
  
  Calls dispatcher
  
  Dispatcher: guides the train out of the yard

  4:00 p.m. Departure

  (Rule 84) A train must not start until the proper signal is given.
  
  (Rule 99) The Conductor and the Engineer are responsible for protection of their train.
  
  Train 81 leaves the station in Silvis, Illinois going west on a double track at 50 mph, headed for West Liberty to pick up the first orders.  
  Engineer and the head and rear brakemen are always watching the tracks, especially in a curve to look for hotboxes or any problems.
  
  (Rule 712) Employees must observe trains closely and if anything unusual or defective is noted, such as a hot journal, brakes sticking, dragging brake rigging, sliding wheels, indications of fire, lading shifted over side or end of car, protruding objects, swing car door, or any other dangerous condition, they must make every effort to call the attention of the crew on the train to such conditions.  If train is moving, stop signal must be given.  Train dispatcher must be notified at once if unable to stop train.
  
  The head brakeman and the rear brakeman, it is their job to inspect the train.  So every time I got ready to go around a curve, left or right, I would get out of my seat, roll down the window, (the fireman sat in the left hand seat and you sat in the middle) stick your head out, and watch the train coming around the curve.  The rear brakeman, he would go from one side of the caboose to the other side of the caboose, and he would be doing the same thing [looking out the window], because you’re looking for hotboxes. If there is dust out there, you’ve gotta find out why.  There may be a wheel on the ground, an empty car, might be a brake running down; it could be a lot of things. So, if you saw any of that, the train would stop and find out what was causing it.  Maybe something was hung up or a brake didn’t release, then you have a problem – you’d have to bleed it off or cut it down.  [listen to audio clip here 32:58]
  
  Train cars were blocked in the order of the city destination with all cars for a particular city blocked together for ease of transfer and pick up. Carrying anywhere from 65 to 110 cars, train 81 cars were blocked as follows: Caboose – The Des Moines Iowa block – Council Bluff block – Fairbury Block, Denver Block (right behind the engine).  Upon reaching Des Moines, that block would be left and another picked up.
  
  Train cars carried various commodities from corn syrup to livestock.  Tank cars carried liquids such as corn syrup, chemicals, fuel (diesel, gasoline, kerosene).  Hazardous chemical cars are marked with a diamond placard.  Box cars carry anything from lumber to dishes.  Reefers or refrigerated cars in the 60’s had to be refurbished with ice from an ice house.  The train would stop at a yard and huge chunks of ice would be hauled into the reefers.  The trip from Silvis to Des Moines was approximately 181 miles.
  
  
  
   
• 1 media/Laws_StaffWebpage.jpg 2020-05-13T05:12:20-07:00 Option Two: Slippage/Knuckle Break 67 plain 2020-12-11T04:44:39-08:00

  5:00 p.m.

  Train 83
  Entering Davenport, Iowa 
  Paperwork is put into a torpedo shaped cone and will be thrown out to the agent at Davenport, Iowa 
  Between the Missouri Division Junction and Walcott is a six mile incline, 2% grade.  
  The train wheels begin slipping. 
  
  There are times, when a train approaches a steep grade, that the wheels start to slip.  This slippage, or lack of traction between the wheel and the rail, creates a piercing, screeching sound reminiscent of fingernails on a chalkboard exponentially multiplied.  The wheels of this massive, multi-ton train keep turning, struggling to gain traction, steel scraping against steel, the friction sometimes sending sparks flying.  
  
  When train wheels are slipping, sand has to be applied in front of the wheel as far as it needs to go.  This could go on for miles. The brakemen will walk on each side of the train.   Buckets (coffee cans) are used to scoop up sand and rocks to put on the track for traction.  In extreme circumstances, the train would have to be divided into two parts, with the head [front of the train] parked in the first available siding, which could be many miles away, and then the rear is brought up the hill and recoupled to the head.
  
  You'd get on a hill. Every inch of it had sand and gravel on it. You'd get out and use coffee cans to get the sand and gravel, and you'd lay it on the rails and you'd walk the hills so you wouldn't have to double the hill. Double on the hill means I cut off the first half of the train, take it wherever I could that had a siding, put that in the siding, come back get the rear half of the train, pull up on the main line, put the train back together and away you go again.  [The first available siding could be miles away.]
  
  You pull it [the rear] and shove the head into a siding. In other words, you pull them into a passing track, which we call a siding, and then you cut them off and tie them down.  Then you'd go get the rear, and by that time the rear brakes are locked up. The conductor got permission to have somebody flag behind him [because] they didn't have the rear brakeman behind you to protect you. He'd have the dispatcher do it. You would pull up, stop. We'd try to make cut. The brakeman would put it together. Ease the train down. He'd get on the caboose and away you'd go again. Two and half to three-hour job.  [listen to audio clip here 8:58]
  
  After two hours of grueling work applying sand and rocks to the track for traction, possibly uncoupling and recoupling the head and rear cars, the train finally moves on toward West Liberty
  
  Pass Durant, Wilson, Atalissa, West Liberty 

  7:00 p.m.

  As the train passes through West Liberty - the conductor drops a ticket and picks up orders.  He teletypes information to Des Moines to let them know what is coming. Orders are picked up, from a string attached to a y-shaped piece of wood, with the train never slowing down from 50 mph.                                                                                                          
  As the train passes, the conductor reaches out and grabs the orders.     
  
  Train 83 must wait on Train 94 out of Cedar Rapids to pass.
  
  Wait for Signal – red, yellow or green light - The engineer has to watch for signals.
  
  Separate orders – brakeman and fireman separate and organize the orders for train cars according to upcoming stations. 

  8:00 p.m.

  Arrive Iowa City
  
  Train 83 meets 1st and 2nd Train 60 and waits two hours. Trains have priorities on the track.
  
  Train 83 has to go into a siding and allow Train 60 to proceed.
  
  Train 83 travels down the main line and stops at the west end of the siding, to meet one or two trains.
  
  Red order board - pick up orders 
  
  Dispatcher will give a clear signal (follow the ABS – Automatic Blocking Signals)
   

  
  
  10:00 p.m.    Leave Iowa City 

  Train 83 goes into the siding and let's passenger train #7 go by.
  
  Wait for a signal     (ABS territory) 
  
  Head brakeman – lining the switch           
  
  (Rule 104A) Employees handling switches must know that the switches are properly lined for the movement to be made and that the switch points fit.  Switches must be left in proper position after having been used.
  
  Rear Brakeman –   lines the switch back to the main line
  Train 83 pulls out – takes 45 minutes to get up to speed            
  
  Meet Train 84 at Brooklyn – 84 goes into the siding – once it passes, Train 83 goes to Grinnell (45 minutes)
  
  As Train 83 approaches Vernon, it goes into emergency!  The brake is automatically activated.
  
  The head brakeman gets off the train and walks the train to determine the problem.  “Walk the train” means walking along each side of the train looking for problems.  About forty-two cars down he sees that the rear of the train is separated from the front by approximately three quarters of a mile.  He spots the broken knuckle.  He looks to see what type of knuckle it is, Type E or Type F which is imprinted on the top of the knuckle, then continues on to the separated section.  Because there were no radios in the 60s, once the brakeman determines what type of knuckle he needs, he would have to walk all the way back to the front of the train to get new knuckles and a fuzee (11).  About an hour has passed, as the brakeman has walked a mile or more back and forth.
  
  Why you’re in emergency is the reason you’re walking the tracks.  What’s got you in emergency, the air hose, the penny line, knuckles out; something put you in emergency.  Once that train comes to a halt, you had to walk.
  
  Back in the day before we started doing all this new stuff, the track was like this – you’re walking way down ballast, you could walk along the wheel about that low [indicates the wheel is very low to the ground].  Now it’s at an angle, and you’re walking way out here trying to hang on to something and looking underneath the train. It's a whole lot harder to walk a train today than it used to be. Everybody has to walk the train, brakeman gotta walk the train, because if the engineer and the fireman came back, and you have to take one down [knuckle], they can help you get it out.[listen to audio clip here 1:06:40]
  
  One time I got a real bad ankle twist.  When they got rid of the locks or the batteries for all the signals, and they ran the signals through the tracks, they left these battery boxes with pieces of wood or dirt over ‘em [alongside the tracks]. You’d be walking the train, and the wood would be rotten, and you’d step down there, and I twisted my right ankle big time a couple times.  I don’t know how many times I worked on a division, and about the third or fourth guy in the division got hurt.  The superintendent had a gang go through, and they got rid of all those boxes. [listen to audio clip here 1:08:55]
  
  We had two knuckles and it depended, you'd get back there and if a knuckle broke, you'd have to look at the top of the knuckle and you'd know what size to get.  And so you'd get that size knuckle and put it in.  The knuckles were hung on racks underneath the caboose, or on the back of the engine. There were two knuckles on each end of the engine, so there were four knuckles, because we had two types of knuckles [Type E and Type F].  [listen to audio clip here 29:48]
  
  The brakeman would close the angle cock on each side and release the brake.  The first knuckle repaired would be the car attached to the engine.
  
  Well now, you pick 'em up with two hands, [a knuckle could weigh between 60 and 80 pounds] but you had to hold 'em in one hand 'cause you had to lift it up and put the knuckle in. The way the pin lifted, you had to pull the pin up and hold the pin up so you could slide the knuckle and drop it back down.  Some of the railroad crew carried a type of tactical web military type belt for the purpose of holding the pin while they changed the knuckle.   [listen to audio clip here 5:58]
  
  Once the knuckle pin is removed, the uncoupling lever is lifted.  The old knuckle was then removed and the new knuckle put in while holding the uncoupling lever up. The brakeman has to be very careful where he places his feet in case the knuckle is dropped.  The knuckle pin is then replaced.  The knuckle is checked for proper movement.  Once the repair is made on the car attached to the engine, the brakeman grabs hold and hangs on to the side of the car. The engineer begins backing the train up to the other car with the second broken knuckle.  The brakeman goes through the same process again and changes that knuckle.  Once the repair is finished, the conductor fills out paperwork for the clerk.  Every incident has to be documented.
  
  The old box cars in covered hoppers, instead of having an underside pin, you'd have to lift up on it to get it to pull. You push it up, and that would lift the pin up and the knuckle would come open. Well, those things would bounce open so we all carried plugs. And a plug is something they put in the [railroad] tie when they're getting ready to drill it together, put another spike in. They take these wooden plugs and drive 'em in the hole where the old spike was. And  everybody had a bunch of 'em on an engine. Car kept hopping up, you would just take that plug and drive it in there, force that pin down, it couldn't lift up anymore. But again, you had to tell the car department so they could go get it out, 'cause you couldn't pull that pin with that plug in there. These are just tricks you learn. [listen to audio clip here 4:53]
  
  The knuckle itself wasn’t dangerous, what was dangerous was, you’d be switching cars, and like when I worked out of Silvis, the south end of the yard had a slight slant to it.  You’d pull out a pin and they [the cars] would roll into the tracks.  [You had to use extreme caution when stepping between cars.]  The lightest thing on the railroad that we ever have is the caboose and it weighs, let’s see, 34 to 38,000 pounds, and that is the smallest thing we’ve got on the railroad.  All the box cars, tank cars, flat cars, they all weigh more than that, so you got killed, you didn’t get hurt. You’ve got to have good common sense or you’re gonna get killed on the railroad.  [listen to audio clip here 1:10:02]
   

  2:00 a.m.

  
  Due to all of the problems, Train 83 will not make it to Des Moines as the crew must stop work at 2:59 a.m.  The train will continue on to Marengo, pull into a siding and tie up [train is holding on line for a relief crew].  The crew will have eight hours off.
  
  Every conductor had his own caboose, so when you got into Des Moines [or destination] you'd take the bills and hand 'em to the clerk that was there, and he'd hold on to them and put them on the other [outbound] caboose. They reach your caboose up and set it over [park it for the night] and set the outbound caboose. The brakeman'll be fixing his marker lights. They'd take your caboose and kick it down into the yard where the other switch crew would get it and put it on the caboose track.  Then you'd go up and get your radio batteries and recharge 'em.  The crews had their own cabooses: the conductor, the head brakeman, and the rear brakeman on an assigned train and the regular crew. [listen to audio clip here 22:17]

  The cabooses were set up very simply.  If you lucked out, your desk was at the back of the caboose on the left hand side, your bunk was across from it on the right hand side as the conductor. At the end was a door, and in there was a toilet. There was no sink on the caboose. In front of the toilet was a double bunk for the two brakemen. Across from there was the stove. It was an oil stove. To get it to be hotter, it had a round hole, and you had a lifter to lift the lid up.  What you'd do is, you'd put the lid back in and we'd have paper cups where you could draw water.  You had water vents, and you had a paper cup. You'd draw that out, but before you did it, you'd take a knife or a pair of scissors, everybody kept a pair of surgical scissors on a caboose, and you'd cut a real tiny hole in that and you'd just pour water through it and it'd go through this hole in there and water would go into oil fire 'cause everybody would get kinda cold.  It would heat up, and it would keep that caboose nice and warm. [listen to audio clip here 28:20]

  Now if you were an extra person you had to go to a hotel or a flophouse, which was fifty cents a night.  Beforehand though, you went down into the basement of the yard office, and you’d take all the stuff out of your pockets, take your boots and your socks off, and step in the shower with your clothes on and wash all that dirt and dust off your clothes. Your clothes would be as black as coal because of the dust coming back across the train and all that stuff coming back.  You’d wash all that off, you’d wring ‘em out.  You’d take the canvas bag that we all owned, they were military surplus bags that were lined, and you’d put your wet clothes in ‘em and get a clean set of clothes.  So, if you were out for a week you had a set of clothes.  [listen to audio clip here 1:02:38]
• 1 media/Laws_StaffWebpage.jpg media/Laws_StaffWebpage.jpg 2020-05-13T05:11:49-07:00 Option One: Hotbox 49 plain 2020-12-11T04:43:10-08:00

  5:00 p.m.        Train 81

  Enter Iowa – Pass Davenport, Walcott, Stockton Durant, Wilton, Atalissa    
  
  Paperwork is put into a torpedo shaped cone and thrown out to the agent at Davenport, Iowa.
  The agent teletypes the data to Des Moines to let them know the contents of incoming cars.

  6:00 p.m.    Arrive West Liberty

  Wait on Train 94 out of Cedar rapids to pass.    
  Wait for Signal – red, yellow or green light.
  The engineer has to watch for signals.
  Pick up orders from depot.
  Separate orders - brakeman and fireman will separate and organize the orders according to upcoming stations.  

  7:00 p.m.    Arrive Iowa City

  Train 81 will meet 1st and 2nd Train 60.
  Wait two hours – trains have priorities on the track.
  Train 81 has to pull into a siding and allow Train 60 to proceed.
  Once the track is cleared and the signal is given, Train 81 travels down the main line and stops at the west end of the siding to meet one or two
  trains.
  Red order board and then your orders
  Dispatcher will give the all clear signal (ABS) and Train 81 will proceed.

  9:00 p.m.        
  Leave Iowa City

  Pass Vernon, Tiffin, Oxford, Homestead, South Amana, Marengo, Ladora, Victor, Brooklyn, Malcom, Ascalon
  Train 81 must go into the siding and let passenger Train #7 go by.
  Wait for a signal (ABS territory)
  Head brakeman proceeds with lining the switch.
  
  (Rule 104A)  Employees handling switches must know that the switches are properly lined for the movement to be made and that the switch points fit.  Switches must be left in proper position after having been used.
  
  Rear Brakeman – lines the switch back to the main line
  Train 81 pulls out.  It takes 45 minutes to get up to speed of 55 mph.
  Meet 84 at Brooklyn – 84 goes into the siding – once it passes, 81 proceeds to Grinnell (45 minutes)
                                      

  11:00 p.m.    Pass Grinnell, Kellogg travel on to Newton

  
  As Train 81 proceeds toward Newton and approaches a curve, the engineer and brakeman see smoke and determine there may be a hotbox.  The engineer slows the train (4 to 5 mph) and drops the head brakeman off.  He walks toward the car where the smoke is spotted.
  
  (Rule 712) Employees must observe trains closely and if anything unusual or defective is noted, such as hot journal, brakes sticking, dragging brake rigging, sliding wheels, indications of fire, lading shifted over side or end of car, protruding objects, swinging car door, or any other dangerous condition, they must make every effort to call the attention of the crew on the train to such conditions.        

  Hotbox (hot journal) is detected.                  

  While you're going around a curve, you're looking to see if there's any hot boxes.  You had to look out when the train was going around a curve. You'd get up, roll the window down, stick your head out, and watch the train coming around the curve.  Well, back in those days they had steel wheels, steel rails, and it would throw threads. Me and my eye doctor got to be on a first name basis. Everybody did because they put you in the chair, and you'd lean your head back, and they'd use magnets and pull it all out and clean the rust up. So, I was up at my grandparents' house, my mom's dad, and he ran a business in Clinton, Iowa. And Uncle Louis had this face mask he pulled out before he welded, and it was a dark glass.  I said, It's sure bad they don't make those clear, and Grandpa said, 'Well we make those clear.'  And I said, Well, I could sure use one. So he just went over to his cabinet and he got a clear one that fit my head. And so, then when I would work, I would pull that down and about every six months I'd have to throw it away and get another one because it'd be all scarred up from all that steel hitting it.  [listen to audio clip here 15:30]
  
  An undetected hotbox or journal may catch on fire and potentially destroy the car and other cars coupled to it.  Some causes of overheating are damaged seals, condensation, overloading, lack of lubrication, dirt or debris, or even rail conditions.  The result is metal-to-metal friction. The lack of lubrication, added to the metal-to-metal friction, creates excessive heat, smoke and a red hot journal, thus the term "hotbox."  When the axle bearing overheats, the journal box can fall below the rails, which can result in a derailment.  
  
  A hotbox is an overheated friction bearing journal for people that don't know the terms. Back in the old days they would smoke. Now with all these new roller bearings like all the cars have today, if you're not lookin' the instant that thing gets hot you'll never know it 'cause it'll flash blue, they've got a little thing inside them that'll flash blue, but that flash lasts less than five seconds. So if you aren’t looking at the journal, you're gonna burn the journal off.  And I've burnt off more than one journal in my life. [listen to audio clip here 17:00]
  
  You didn't touch the brakes.  You'd just ease the air into it, squat it down, and meanwhile, as soon as you could,  get off, because back in those days you got off and on as it was moving.  Back when I first went to work on the railroad, I could get off at 15 to 18 miles an hour.  I'd swing my right leg out, swing around and take two steps and go the other way. [listen to audio clip here 34:25]
  
  But back then, if you needed to take that car somewhere, you'd take green grass and you'd put in there so you could drag it three, four, five miles before that journal burnt off and put that car away so the car department could come out and lift the car up and take the wheel off and fix it and do whatever they had to do, but that's what you did. You made do with what you had.
  
  We didn't have cell phones.  We didn't have walkie talkies, but the conductor's caboose radio would set in the rack, and there were three glass batteries in there.  You had a big antenna that you would screw out on the left of the caboose, then the brakeman could talk to the head and tell 'em what was goin' on.  But the engineer would have already called the dispatcher to tell him we were at milepost so-and-so.  Most of the engineers could tell you the name of the crossings, what road it was, what street it was.  You learned your division.  You learned where you were gonna work.  You learned it inside and out and outside in.  You learned if it was right hand curves or left hand curves.  You learned how long the sidings were and where you could get a train to clear.  [listen to audio clip here 35:34]
  
  With today's modern technology and instant communication, it is difficult to comprehend the predicament of railroad crews when a problem occurred.  Their tools were plain common sense and whatever materials were on hand in order to limp the train to the next available siding. The uppermost priority was to get the train off the tracks so the next scheduled train could pass safely.
  
  The brakeman lifts the lid and looks inside the journal.
  If a fire is burning, the lid is closed until the train is pulled into a siding. 
  If there is no fire, a hook is used to pull out waste and the lid closed.
  The engineer will proceed to the first available siding. 
  Once the train reaches a siding, the train crew uncouples (remove) the car.
  A tag is filled out and placed on the car that says, "hotbox do not move."
  This may take approximately two hours.
  
  (Rule 714) When car is set out on account of a hotbox, packing must be removed and fire extinguished.  In addition, it must be ascertained that there is no fire on car body, and that dust guard is not burning nor smoldering, taking whatever action is necessary before car is left, to eliminate the possibility of fire.

  1:00 a.m.        Train 81 pulls out from the siding 

  Pass Kellogg, Newton, Colfax, Mitchellville

  2:30 a.m.        Arrive in East Des Moines

  Bills are given to the clerk.
  Change crews.
  Engineer goes to flophouse.
  
  Now if you were an extra person you had to go to a hotel or a flophouse. They were nice places. They were clean. They weren't dirty old places. They were well-kept and well-maintained, and they all had good food in 'em. Kate [owner] made sure that you got a decent meal. She would make homemade stew. Kate could cook. [listen to audio clip here 25:27]
  
  Kate's daughter married a West End brakeman, and when I left the railroad, they had three kids.  Kate was just tickled pink that she'd set them up because she said, 'Railroad people are good people. They're nuttier than heck, but they're good people.'  [listen to audio clip here 26:28]
  
  Brakeman and conductor stay on the caboose.
  
  Back when I first started, you had your own caboose.  Every conductor had his own caboose.  When you got into Des Moines, you'd take the bills and hand 'em to the clerk, and he'd put them on the other caboose. They'd reach your caboose up and set it over and set the outbound caboose that the [next] conductor will be on.  The brakeman'd be fixing his marker lights.  They'd take your caboose and kick it down into the yard where the other switch crew would get it and put it on the caboose rack. You'd go up and get your radio batteries and recharge 'em.  We [engineer and some others] stayed in flophouses for about fifty cents or a dollar. [listen to audio clip here 22:17]
  
  And your meals. You bought 'em when we first started. Later on, we got in our union agreement.  By the time I got back from the Marine Corps, we had a union agreement in Des Moines when we had to stay in a hotel downtown.  We no longer had our own block, because the crews had their own cabooses: the conductor, the head brakeman, and the rear brakeman on an assigned train and the regular crew. [listen to audio clip here 25:27]
  
  The cabooses were set up very simply. If you [conductor] lucked out, your desk was at the back of the caboose on the left hand side.  Your bunk was across from it on the right hand side. At the end was a door, and inside there was a toilet. There was no sink on the caboose. In front of the toilet was a double bunk for the two brakemen. Across from there was the stove. It was an oil stove. To get it to be hotter, it had a round thing and you had a lifter to lift the lid up. And what you'd do is, you'd put the lid back in and you'd get paper cups where you could draw water.  You had water vents, and you had a paper cup. You'd draw that out, but before you did it, you'd take a knife or a pair of scissors, yeah everybody kept a pair of surgical scissors on a caboose, and you'd cut a real tiny hole in that [cup] and you'd just pour water through it, and it'd go through this hole in there and water would go into the oil fire. Everybody would get kinda cold, and it would heat up, and it would keep that caboose nice and warm.  [listen to audio clip here 28:20]
  
  
• 1 media/Laws_StaffWebpage.jpg 2020-05-13T05:12:59-07:00 Option Four: Derailment in Grinnell, Iowa 44 plain 2021-03-29T11:05:06-07:00

  5:00    p.m.        Train 81

  
  Enter Iowa – Pass Davenport, Walcott, Stockton Durant, Wilton, Atalissa    
  
  Paperwork is put into a torpedo shaped cone and thrown out to the agent at Davenport, Iowa.
  
  The agent teletypes the data to Des Moines to let them know the contents of incoming cars.

  6:00 p.m.    Arrive West Liberty

  Wait on Train 94 out of Cedar rapids to pass.    
  Wait for Signal – red, yellow or green light.
  The engineer has to watch for signals.
  Pick up orders from depot.
  Separate orders - brakeman and fireman will separate and organize the orders according to upcoming stations.
   

  
  7:00 p.m.    Arrive Iowa City        

  Train 81 will meet 1st and 2nd Train 60. 
  Wait two hours – trains have priorities on the track. 
  Train 81 has to pull into a siding and allow Train 60 to proceed.
  Once the track is cleared and the signal is given, Train 81 travels down the
  main line and stops at the west end of the siding to meet one or two
  trains. 
  
  
  Red order board and then your orders
  Dispatcher will give the all clear signal (ABS) and Train 81 will proceed. 

  9:00 p.m.        Leave Iowa City

  Pass Vernon, Tiffin, Oxford, Homestead, South Amana, Marengo, Ladora, Victor, Brooklyn, Malcom, Ascalon
  Train 81 must go into the siding and let passenger Train #7 go by.
  Wait for a signal (ABS territory)
  Head brakeman proceeds with lining the switch.
  Rear Brakeman – lines the switch back to the main line        
  Train 81 pulls out.  It takes 45 minutes to get up to speed of 55 mph.
  Meet 84 at Brooklyn – 84 goes into the siding – once it passes, 81 goes to Des Moines 
             

  
  11:00 p.m.  Heading out of Grinnell Train 84 derails.

   Train 84 out of Des Moines heading for Silvis goes through Grinnell around 11:00 p.m. 
  
  We turned a train over leaving Grinnell one night. We were doing 50 miles an hour on this train that went in the ditch. We had just cleared the depot.  I got a highball from the clerk on duty.  Everything was good on his side.  I just started to walk back into the caboose, and  the conductor said,  'grab something!'  I grabbed his bunk and just sat on the edge of his bunk and held on, because what you do is, in a derailment, you go in, you stop, you think you’re gonna stop, and then you go in again until it clears the cars out.   We went in three or four times.  [listen to audio clip here 1:15:18]
  
  When a train derails, the massive 100 ton cars slam into each other.  As one car strikes another, the contact causes a ricochet that bounces the cars back and forth, “out and in” until they all finally come to a stop.  Railroad personnel stay alert, grab hold of whatever is bolted down, and keep a death grip until the train stops.
  
  
  Every time I’d start to get up he’d say, ‘Am I getting up?’ and I say, No, and he said, ‘You stay right where you’re at.’  So he kept me in my seat.  When we finally came to a stop he said, ‘Now here, Gary, get out there and when you find the Ham’s beer car,  take that beer and stash it and when we come back we’ll pick it up.’ You could have anything you wanted off a derailment.  It was scattered in the cornfields.  And you might as well pick it up, because the railroads are self-insured, so anything [damaged or thrown out of the cars], I mean we got tool boxes, we got food.  We had a wrecker foreman. He had a one ton truck with a box on the back and he lived right next door to me.  He’d go out there and he’d say, 'Gary are you workin?'  And he’d say, 'Leave your garage door open and I’ll give you some stuff when I get back.'  We’d have a case of beans, a case of peas, whatever they got.   I mean they’d split between all of the wrecker crew, and they’d split it between the train crews out there. He’d bring it home and we’d split it.  I got home one night and I had 12 cases of wine. I didn’t drink wine.  I gave it to all my friends.  That was the best Christmas present they got that year!  But the railroad didn’t want it.  They just said, ’Clean up the railroad!’  [listen to audio clip here 1:16:18]
  
  We turned over all but the three cars and the caboose. They still had the caboose.
  
  More information on derailments may be found in the Archives of Appalachia's extensive railroad collections that include thousands of photographs dating back to the 1800s; over 300 ledgers; and over 700 boxes of research materials containing correspondence, daybooks, journals, timetables, day-to-day operational documents, financial statements, reports, engineering drawings, blueprints, maps, posters, motion pictures, songs and more.
  
  Specific items of note include:

  • film clips 349 and 352, dealing with the 1975 L&N train wreck from the Virgil Q. Wacks Collection
  • Box 122 of the Carolina, Clinchfield and Ohio Railway Collection.