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• 1 2020-05-11T08:12:58-07:00 Introduction 11 an introduction to the project and a brief biography of Gary Emmert plain 2020-05-12T11:33:15-07:00 Biography of Gary Emmert
  
  Gary Emmert is a retired 43-year veteran of the railroad.  After meeting Gary at the Carter Railroad Museum, while working with him on an exhibit for the Archives of Appalachia, it was apparent that his knowledge could be invaluable in enlightening those of us who have never had that experience. Generously donating untold hours to the Carter Railroad Museum, one immediately senses his love of trains and his pride in working for the railroad. The Archives of Appalachia houses numerous and expansive railroad collections, but the interview with Gary Emmert brings those boxes of documents, maps, and forms to life.
  
  Gary’s life on the railroad began after he completed an associate’s degree, and decided a college career was not the path for him.  His great-grandfather and his father both worked for the railroad, so the calling was in his blood.  He first began his career in 1963 as a brakeman at the Rock Island railroad in Silvis, Illinois, a city in Rock Island County.  He worked for the CRI&P - Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad until 1964 when he was drafted into the Marine Corps.
  
  "When I got ready to go to the Marine Corps, good example of being a railroader, I was living in Dallas, got orders to go to Vietnam. So, I got on the Texas Chief and rode to Kansas City. I had a compartment because I knew the people who were workin' it because the railroad is a close-knit society. And the fact that I was going to Vietnam, they put me back in a compartment and sent a wire ahead to the conductor and gave 'em my name, and I got on the El Capitaine, which is a fancy Santa Fe train way back in the day, and I rode it to California. And I had my own compartment back there,and I ate for free, and I drank in the club car and everybody knew I was going to Vietnam."
  
  After returning from Vietnam in 1968, he went back to work on the railroad, where he would stay for the next 42 years moving up the ladder from brakeman to conductor to engineer.
  
  Introduction
  
  In the 1960s, no formal training was required for the railroad.  What was required was a 90-day trial period of on-the-job training, then passing the 150 question rules and signals test.  There were 1676 railroad rules, of which you could miss four questions about rules, none about signals.  If one question was answered incorrectly about signals, a 90-day waiting period was enforced and the test had to be retaken.
  
  Basic requirements were strength, stamina, agility, patience, and good common sense: strength to handle repairs such as changing a knuckle, which weighed 68 pounds, and is located between two cars that weigh between 30 to 100 tons; stamina to work 24 hours straight if required; agility to hang off the side of a train while it was still moving, jump on and off a moving train, climb over and under train cars to do repairs; patience for all the things that can and will go wrong; good common sense paired with quick thinking - the instantaneous ability to use sound judgement to prevent fatal accidents which could happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere, any day.
  
  Gary describes his first major mistake as a novice:
  
  “We set out some cars at Kellogg Isle one night, and I just turned both angle cocks [a valve located at each end, which is a part of the air brake system] and cut away while on a small hill.  Joe was the rear brakeman and he saw them [cars] rolling and he reached out and hooked the angle cock, and he come and chewed me up one side and down the other because of the fact that I hadn't. Only one angle cock should have been turned.  You learn quickly. And that was my first mistake, and I never made it again.”
             
  The railroad crew, with the exception of the switchman, had to be on call 24/7, as there were no set hours. A call could come at any time, and a railroad employee must report to work.  It was crucial that essential gear and supplies be packed and ready to carry each day, not only supplies for that day, but extra supplies in case the day extended past the regular shift of 12 to 16 hours.  This included tools, appropriate clothing, food, and the ever crucial thermos of black coffee.  Trains often went from starting point to destination without stopping, with any number of incidents occurring during that time.  In the case of a train derailment, the crew could be at a location for two or three days, and while food would be brought to the crew, tools and clothing must be on hand.
  
  While there are no “normal” days on the railroad, the following timeline will allow a glimpse into a day in the life of a railroad engineer as it would have been in the 1960s.  Gary Emmert shares stories from his days on the railroad first as a brakeman, then as a conductor, and finally as an engineer.  Several scenarios are provided, from the changing of a hotbox to derailment.  Because there are several terms which may be unfamiliar to a novice, job descriptions, a glossary of terms, and photographs are provided for clarity.  The timeline will begin each day at 1:30 p.m., based on a 12 hour shift, with the same procedures being followed every day.  But at 4:00 p.m. when the train leaves the station, there are choices as to what kind of day might be experienced on the railroad.