"Takin Twenty" with the Virginian Brethren by Skip Salmon

[NW Mailing List]

To me, a hickey (and I mean the tool) is a length of pipe as a handle with a sharp open hook shape on it for bending conduit or pipe. It is specifically for making tight or sharp bends. 

Jim Stapleton

> On Jan 19, 2017, at 11:31, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
> 
> Kevin,
> 
>     I think you are describing a brake stick (baseball bat like device that brakemen used in the manner you said).  A hickey is something else.  If no correct answer is received, I will explain what it is next "Takin' Twenty" Report.
> 
> Skip
> ---- NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote: 
> 
> =============
> Mr. Salmon,
> 
> I think a hickey is a tool used by a brakemen. It is a lever device several
> feet long with a small hook feature on the end. The hook feature may have
> been of various sizes, say the 1/2' or 3/4" mentioned.
> 
> The device would help the brakemen turn a stubborn brake wheel ... gave him
> additional leverage. It hooked on the wheel shaft, extended through the the
> spokes of the wheel laterally and extend beyond the OD of the wheel. The
> hickey gave the brakemen additional leverage.
> 
> See link for pictures:
> 
> http://www.mendorailhistory.org/1_railroads/brakemen.htm
> 
> Kevin Byrd
> Chesterfield, VA
> 
> On Thu, Jan 19, 2017 at 10:24 AM, NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> wrote:
> 
>> Last night I had the pleasure of "Takin' Twenty" with seven of  the
>> Virginian Brethren and Friends of the Virginian Railway.  Attending with us
>> for the first time was Adam Sowder, grandson of former Virginian Railway
>> Clerk Wis Sowder.  Adam is a Junior at nearby Cave Spring High School and
>> is very much into computer science.  He told the Brethren about a program
>> he is in that uses robotics in competition.  Adam looks so much like his
>> Grandfather that we suspect he could have passed for Wis in the early
>> nineteen forties.  Any robots on the old VGN?
>> 
>> 
>> I have looked anxiously every day since last Thursday for delivery of a
>> Henry rifle in response to my challenge of last week.  Since none arrived,
>> here is the answer to last week's inquiry:  Builders of the original rail
>> line that goes through the Great Dismal Swamp in east Virginia used
>> sections of stove pipe around their lower legs to fiend off rattle snakes.
>> I have another challenge for you  prompted by something I found recently in
>> a stack of VGN RWY Requisitions on General Storekeeper (form 666) dated
>> 11-11-52.  It is a request for replacement of four hickeys (two of 1/2 inch
>> and two of 3/4 inch) by Princeton General Storekeeper V. W. Miller.  If you
>> know what a "hickey" is, send your answer to me on the back of a red L. L.
>> Bean Downtek 65-fill down Baxter State Parka Size XL to my home address.
>> The first correct answer will prompt shipment of a 2017 Norfolk Southern
>> calendar.
>> 
>> 
>> I told the Brethren that I have been told that this year's J Class #611
>> Excursions will have in consist an end dome lounge car off the California
>> Zepher.  This prompted Landon to tell of a recent trip he made
>> cross-country by rail (and ship) to Alaska.  When asked if it was cold in
>> Alaska he responded "Yes, it was so cold I saw two beagles trying to
>> jump-start a rabbit."
>> 
>> 
>> I told the Brethren about the new security system that was installed in
>> the Virginian Station this week as a donation by local vendor
>> Audiotronics.  Also we now have installed the original Yard Office clock
>> that used a Western Union signal to adjust to correct time every hour, in
>> the South Yard Office.  This is the pendulum clock that VGN train crews
>> synchronized their watches for standard VGN time for years.
>> 
>> 
>> The Jewel from the Past is from July 16, 2009:  "When Rufus saw Bill's
>> old photo of the Roanoke Yard Office, it caused him to recall a small wire
>> hook hanging from the ceiling in the locker room that he could not
>> identify.  He observed it for a long time and finally when he was
>> transferred to the second trick, the answer came.  VGN Brakeman O. J. "Rap"
>> Meadow was using the hook to keep his bag lunch from being invaded by large
>> VGN rats".
>> 
>> 
>> Then there's this:  Several of us were discussing dogs and what breed our
>> kids and grandkids have.  Landon said he has a theory about why dogs drink
>> out of the toilet.  "It's because the water in there is a lot colder "..
>> Wis Sowder asked "How does he know that?"
>> 
>> 
>> Time to pull the pin on this one!
>> 
>> 
>> Departing Now from V248,
>> 
>> 
>> Skip Salmon
>> 
>> 
>> DCXXXVI
>> =============
>> 
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> 
> --
> SKIP SALMON
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