Lots of folks ask me how I got started into trains.
So I figured "What the heck", this is a good a time to tell my story as any....
Maybe some of its true.
Maybe not.
Here goes...
Well, when I was a kid I was kind of a punk.
You know how some kids were into cow-tipping?
I was into train-tipping...
Bu there's only so much of that you can do before it gets old...
So then my Dad showed me a fun trick-- putting a penny on the track...
That was fun so I tried it again with various types of foreign currency...
And again...
Oops! My bad...
Note to self: Do not put Micronesian coins on the track.
As I grew older, I discovered the joy of riding trains.
What a fine train, the Santa Fe "Super Chief" !!!
I always wondered though what that little white cord hanging down was for...
So I pulled it to see what would happen...
Boy was the Conductor cross at me! He told me to NEVER, EVER do that again!
So I didn't.
I thought the Conductor would be happy, but instead he just bunched up his face, turned beet red and made little mewling noises...
I hear he is responding well to Thorazine.
Some friends thought I might enjoy some time away.
So they chipped in together to buy me a ticket to Paris.
I told them they were insane...
A little joke there... ha ha... those are my friends... in seine...
Okay. never mind.
While I was in Paris I got a job as a subway operator...
Unfortunately it didn't last long.
How was I supposed to know that wasn't the brake !?!?
If it was that important, they should have labeled it in English !!!
I traveled back to the States and got myself a job as an engineer for the Santa Fe.
On the same train my Conductor friend used to be on.
Ironic, isn't it?
After a short stint driving fast freights
I came to a point where It seemed like the right time to move on...
So I took a job as an engineer for the Pennsy.
As you can see from the small crowd gathered up on the hill, a lot of folks admired my skill behind the throttle and came out to give me encouragement.
But my really big break came when I got to drive
No, not the Pennsy Army-Navy game...
The Pennsy's "Federal Express".
I'm not quite sure what happened with the brakes there.
But at least nobody said anything to me about being late.
*Whew* I thought they were gonna write me up over that for sure!
Then I got a job with CSX switching cars around in the yard.
Man that yardmaster was a real piece of work.
"Go Left" he said.
"No, go Right" he bellowed!
I really wish he'd make up his mind...
After a bit I decided I wasn't really cut out for yard work so I got them to switch me over to MOW duty (that's "Maintenance of Way" for all you non-railroaders reading along...)
At first they had me ballasting track
(Just between you and me, I think a shovel would have worked better...)
And then they had me clearing brush.
That's me standing there... with the hard hat.
That was fun for awhile, but then it was time to move on.
For a time I ran the weekly special through Larado Texas.
It wasn't too bad a run, but watch out for the chilli!
Soon though, I found myself pining for the mountains again.
So I made my way back east and hooked up with the L&N pulling coal drags.
Was a nice job, laid-back and there were always mountain critters to see as I went rolling by.
One time I stopped to snap a picture of a squirrel sitting beside the tracks.
Shot came out blurry though.
And after looking at it for a bit I don't think it was really a squirrel after all.
After that I got a job digging turntable pits
They were using a method I wasn't really familiar with.
So I went up north and got myself a job with the Canadian Pacific surveying routes.
They were looking for a faster route down the mountain.
I found one.
Eventually I got tired of surveying and that whole "route-finding" gig.
That's fun for a young guy maybe, but when you get older you just want a nice easy job where you can just sit back and relax.
I accepted a position as yardmaster for a little place in New York
Perhaps you've heard of it... Grand Central Yard in the city?
In my spare time I've still got my hand in driving a trolley
Until I retired.
Nowadays, I'm off my trolley and into Model Railroading.
That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!
John
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
~G4
19 Years old, modeling the Cowlitz, Chehalis, and Cascade Railroad of Western Washington in 1927 in 6X6 feet.
Sawyer Berry
Clemson University c/o 2018
Building a protolanced industrial park layout
John,
You are one sick individual.
By the way, my favorite photo is the 5th one, the freight car wreck with lumber piled on the tracks.
Rich
Alton Junction
jwhitten
I don't think that the forum rules allow taking credit twice for the same train wreck.
wow, just wow. lol
How'd you manage time travel? You went from ATSF to BNSF to PRR to CSX to L&N to CP...
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
Some one is not working on there layout! All us us that took time to read this trilogy! When is it come to the big screen John?
I hate Rust
Gee whiz, all I ever did was just play with my trains...
Have fun with your trains
I have to second richhotrains' assessment. You are one sick individual. Perfect for a job in the federal gummint. You MAY be sick.. but you are a hoot!
Marlon
See pictures of the Clinton-Golden Valley RR
richhotrainJohn, You are one sick individual. By the way, my favorite photo is the 5th one, the freight car wreck with lumber piled on the tracks. Rich
Yeah, sorry about that-- it was a load of precut ties headed over to Fasttracks...
maxmanI don't think that the forum rules allow taking credit twice for the same train wreck.
Sure I can, I'm a Model Railroader aren't I ??
There's one view for each end of the story.
Packerwow, just wow. lol How'd you manage time travel? You went from ATSF to BNSF to PRR to CSX to L&N to CP...
Oh, no problem there. I'm era-agnostic.
Very well done!
Now, go back to the basement and stay there!
Tom
Life is simple - eat, drink, play with trains!
Go Big Red!
PA&ERR "If you think you are doing something stupid, you're probably right!"
cudaken Some one is not working on there layout! All us us that took time to read this trilogy! When is it come to the big screen John?
Not only has someone been working on their layout, but that very same someone has gotten the whole first deck of his layout benchwork built and is feeling pretty pleased with himself...
Now I gotta work on putting the basement back together, but at least I have something to play with in the meantime!!!
vsmithGee whiz, all I ever did was just play with my trains...
How slow can they go? Can you creep 'em through the yard like the real thing?
What if you have two of them on the same track headed towards each other?
Do you have appropriate interlocking and signaling set up to stop a collision?
Medina1128 I have to second richhotrains' assessment. You are one sick individual. Perfect for a job in the federal gummint. You MAY be sick.. but you are a hoot!
Well then, that works out perfectly.
fiatfan Very well done! Now, go back to the basement and stay there! Tom
I can't go back to the basement, that's where the *trains* are!
vsmith Gee whiz, all I ever did was just play with my trains...
You, sir, are a sick puppy! We need to find help for you!
Any argument carried far enough will end up in Semantics--Hartz's law of rhetoric Emerald. Leemer and Southern The route of the Sceptre Express Barry
I just started my blog site...more stuff to come...
http://modeltrainswithmusic.blogspot.ca/
you show real talent. Stick with it, sooner or later you'll find your niche and never have to work again
My sides are still hurting from the laughter. I needed that after the week I've had.
Will
Here's a very creative man with WAY too much time on his hands........ very funny
tugboat95 you show real talent. Stick with it, sooner or later you'll find your niche and never have to work again
I'm thinking of running for Congress...
We don't think you're sick enough to be in Congress.
Medina1128 We don't think you're sick enough to be in Congress.
Wanna bet? Heck, I'm so corrupt I've even got my hands in my *own* pockets!
jwhitten Wanna bet? Heck, I'm so corrupt I've even got my hands in my *own* pockets!
mmmmm----he may have something here---
jwhittenMedina1128 We don't think you're sick enough to be in Congress. Wanna bet? Heck, I'm so corrupt I've even got my hands in my *own* pockets! John
That fact alone makes you unsuitable for the USA Congress--the corrupt part is a comfort zone, hands in their own pockets, not so comfortable for them.
Very funny and creative thread--sort of a railroad Forrest Gump story.
Jay
garrsort of a railroad Forrest Gump story.
Yeah, he was my Fireman.
He was always going on about his mama...
"Mama always said railroadin' is like a box of choc-o-lates"
I swear to this day, I think that boy was a bit peculiar...
John, all I have to say is...
Robert Beaty
The Laughing Hippie
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The CF-7...a waste of a perfectly good F-unit!
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the
end of your tunnel, Was just a freight train coming
your way. -Metallica, No Leaf Clover
LOVE IT!!!!!! This gave me a good laugh. Thank you for posting.
alco's forever!!!!! Majoring in HO scale Minorig in O scale:)