Upon thinking back on my time with the Erie Railroad Company, there are very few bad memories. The railroad at that time was a very good place to work; very few lay-offs, reasonably safe working conditions, skilled (mostly) fellow employees, and you could have lots of fun on the job.
A few things stick in my mind, and here is one of them. Back when I hired out, there was a company called The Railway Express Agency. The agency would ship almost anything you might want shipped; fresh fish, clams, honey bees, explosives, fresh meat, bags of money, etc. The express messenger who rode the train carried a pistol, as did the drivers who picked up the merchandise. Almost every passenger train had at least one Railway Express car in its consist.
One afternoon during the first summer I worked on the Erie, Number 7, normally due to arrive in my little town at 2:37 p.m., was a bit late, which wasn't unusual, since Number 7 usually had a large consist of head-end cars (mail and express), and was delayed quite often by the loading and unloading of these cars at station stops.
Anyway, Number 7 was almost 2 hours late. After we unloaded the baggage and mail, the agent told we three to take our lunch hour, and get back in time to get ready for Number 6, due at 7:30 p.m.
One of my fellow workers was a foul-mouthed, nasty little creep; not very well-liked by anyone who worked with him. Our local Railway Express driver was an even-tempered fellow who enjoyed a joke. As mentioned above, all Railway Express employees carried pistols. Also, at that time, the Railway Express was using, for trucks, almost anything that might run, due to war-time shortages. The local truck was an old Model "A" Ford that, if you knew how, could be made to back-fire at will.
We three Erie employees were walking down the platform, heading for town and the diner. The express truck was driving past us, also heading for town. The nasty little fellow called the express driver a bad name. The driver, who had his window down, reached below the window sill, pulled out his Colt, laid it over the sill, pointing at the little creep. He also, without being seen, reached with his other hand for the ignition key, and created a back-fire. Our comrade started running; we didn't see him again for two days.
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
My First Job on the Railroad
In May, 1944, I was a sophomore in high school. World War II was winding down. Just after the U. S. entered the war, the government bought a large tract of farm land about five miles south of my little home town, and constructed an army camp there. It was not a training camp as such. You could probably classify it as an "inland port of embarkation," since, once you arrived at the camp, you were probably as fully-trained as you would be, and did not stay there long.
Anyway, after the camp opened in late-1943, the need for civilian help developed. My best friend at the time, also a sophomore in high school, obtained a job at the camp, working in the P. X., selling various items and serving food and drink, which included beer. He told me all about it, almost talked me into joining him there. He was paid the princely sum of 37-cents per hour, worked six days a week, 4 hours a day during the week, and 8 hours on Saturday. Sunday was his day off.
About this time, another friend had hired out as a freight and baggage handler for the Erie Railroad Company, one of the three railroads that served our town. The Erie, at that time, ran from Jersey City, New Jersey to Chicago, Illinois. There were three passenger trains daily westbound, also three eastbound. There was also a mail and express train, which carried no passengers, which ran 6 days a week, both eastbound and westbound. My railroad friend told me that there would be a job opening, working with him in the afternoons. The job paid 43-cents per hour for eight hours, six days per week, and time- and-one-half per hour for working on Sunday, which was a regular occurance. Since the job site was much closer than the one at the army camp, I applied, was awarded the job, and stayed on the railroad, in various jobs, for twenty-one years.
During the time I was in high school, the school kindly permitted me to leave classes at 2:15 p.m. so that I could start at 2:30 p.m. The job consisted of loading and unloading freight at the warehouse, loading and unloading baggage and U. S. mail from the passenger trains, a little janitor work, and lots of snow shovelling during the winter months.
In 1944, the Erie was still in steam, had not yet started buying diesel locomotives. I developed a great love for the various steam locomotives, both freight and passenger, but especially came to enjoy the steam whistles. The freight locomotives had whistles that were pretty uniform in tone. However, the K-5 2900-series passenger locomotives had beautiful whistles. One, the 2936, had a deep-toned steamboat type whistle, and the 2960, the last of the passenger series, had a high-pitched whistle that could be heard for miles.
More railroad talk at a later date.....
Anyway, after the camp opened in late-1943, the need for civilian help developed. My best friend at the time, also a sophomore in high school, obtained a job at the camp, working in the P. X., selling various items and serving food and drink, which included beer. He told me all about it, almost talked me into joining him there. He was paid the princely sum of 37-cents per hour, worked six days a week, 4 hours a day during the week, and 8 hours on Saturday. Sunday was his day off.
About this time, another friend had hired out as a freight and baggage handler for the Erie Railroad Company, one of the three railroads that served our town. The Erie, at that time, ran from Jersey City, New Jersey to Chicago, Illinois. There were three passenger trains daily westbound, also three eastbound. There was also a mail and express train, which carried no passengers, which ran 6 days a week, both eastbound and westbound. My railroad friend told me that there would be a job opening, working with him in the afternoons. The job paid 43-cents per hour for eight hours, six days per week, and time- and-one-half per hour for working on Sunday, which was a regular occurance. Since the job site was much closer than the one at the army camp, I applied, was awarded the job, and stayed on the railroad, in various jobs, for twenty-one years.
During the time I was in high school, the school kindly permitted me to leave classes at 2:15 p.m. so that I could start at 2:30 p.m. The job consisted of loading and unloading freight at the warehouse, loading and unloading baggage and U. S. mail from the passenger trains, a little janitor work, and lots of snow shovelling during the winter months.
In 1944, the Erie was still in steam, had not yet started buying diesel locomotives. I developed a great love for the various steam locomotives, both freight and passenger, but especially came to enjoy the steam whistles. The freight locomotives had whistles that were pretty uniform in tone. However, the K-5 2900-series passenger locomotives had beautiful whistles. One, the 2936, had a deep-toned steamboat type whistle, and the 2960, the last of the passenger series, had a high-pitched whistle that could be heard for miles.
More railroad talk at a later date.....
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