Why I got into Boating!

The Caboose Ride from Hell!

In my past life or in the past, in my life I worked on the Railroad. Please don't sing that song, I hate it! In 1964 I graduated High School in a quaint town along the Mahoning River in Mahoning County, Pennsyltuckey. That is what some New Yorkers call the hinterland between New Jersey and Chicago.

Those were good years for young people looking for jobs. I applied to 3 railroads and two steel mills and was called by every one but the one I really wanted to work for, the Erie. Two of my Uncles by marriage worked on the Erie but I never put them down as references. When they found out, I went to work immediately!

The switch yard at night is a very confusing and scary place. There were powerful lights on high towers and the reflection off the shiny rails seemed to go in every direction, reminded me of shiny tinsel thrown haphazardly on a Christmas tree. Add to that there were rail cars that constantly rolled passed. My mouth was as dry as a dessert every morning I walked off the property. Thankfully, I had good Conductors that told me, “When I stop, you'd better immediately bump into me!” I was happy to stick close!

After a year and a half of pretending to go to college to avoid the draft, my letter came from the President. And I went. Vietnam was hot and heavy then and that's all I have to say about that!

I got out just before Christmas 1967 and went back to work in January 1968. There wasn't much going on until the Great Lakes thawed and the Iron Ore started coming to the Mills. After I got my seniority worked out, I worked a lot in the switch yard where a 'quit' meant going home after running your head off for 6 hours.

In 1973, after 6 years of partying, I asked a girl to marry me and she foolishly agreed. (Still together 42 years) Then I needed to make some real money. I went on the 'road', which meant that there were no standard shifts, very few short days and no set schedules but there were long hours and long money! Sometimes I thought I passed myself coming or going but the 'fund' grew rapidly.

The Steel Valley was still booming for a few more years and I hung on for the ride. The only aspect of the road that I didn't care for was the deteriorating tracks and the slower speeds that went with the conditions. “Deferred Maintenance” was a fancy way of saying nothing got fixed until there was a train wreck piled up on it.

In the early spring of 1975, Jimmy Mastramico and I did our part in getting a section of track repaired on a spur through the small town of Washingtonville, Ohio. Our crew had been randomly selected to go by Jitney to Lisbon, Ohio to get a coal train. We relieved another crew that had run out of time under the hours of service law. It promised to be a short day no matter how we dragged it out so we hustled the 60 heavily laden coal cars together, put the Caboose on one end and the engines on the other and headed for Nile's, Ohio.

Since we were in a hurry to take our 8 hours rest and then be called for another job we didn't start a fire in the Caboose's oil fed stove. We were on 15 mile per hour track most of the way but it was an under 25 mile run. Not until Washingtonville could our Engineer open the throttle a little to 25 miles per hour. And the rain started and the wind blew and the train wrecked!

To Be Continued!

END PART ONE!
This blog/column is meant for educational purposes only. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. All images are merely for humor and not meant to comment on subject. Void where prohibited. Some assembly required. Do not read while operating a vehicle or heavy machinery. Keep sending those great questions and comments! (Contact) boatguied@aol.com