funny R.R. stories

[NW Mailing List]

Harry - 

I know you’re familiar with freight operation on the Clinch Valley, but for those who aren’t – train CV88 came out of Norton with cars for the Clinchfield at Boody Yard, for the west to be set out at Richlands for a Tug River Pool run out of Williamson, and, of course, Bluefields.  A conductor making his first run on 88 got lost with his bills at Boody.  He managed to set out and pick up  the right cars everywhere but he didn’t know what to do with the bills.  So he arrived at Bluefield with all the bills wrapped in a switch list with a rubber band around it with the notation “New Man” on it.  I never heard how long it took them to straighten the mess out.

Ed King

From: NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List 
Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2019 1:40 PM
To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
Cc: NW Mailing List 
Subject: Re: funny R.R. stories





EdK:
Nothing "X-rated" here so you should be able to read it.  There was
a ritual that occurred  every morning at Marsden on the old NS.
Marsden was the away-from-home terminal for crews based in
Norfolk and at Raleigh.  Prior to taking command of No. 64 for Norfolk,
the crew would dig out "Plymouths" and "Norfolks", set out the assigned
caboose, then wait in front of the station for the Raleigh conductor to
bring forth the waybills. From caboose to engine, the waybills were
arranged just as the 70-80-car train stood.


One simmering afternoon in August, a work train restoring ACL's
former Vandemere  Branch killed a rattler and brought it back to Marsden
and left it in front of the station.  Lucky for me, the crew told me
about the snake  before I went to work.


The next morning, Marsden went Hollywood.  The crew returning to
Norfolk coiled the rattler in an open door box car, then the trainmen
stood in front of the door to block the view.  With waybills in hand,
the Raleigh conductor came forward to hand them over.  That's when
the trainmen stepped aside to reveal the reptile.  Stunned, the 
conductor's hands flew up, the bills slipped out of the rubber band,
and in snowed waybills on a hot summer day.  There was a delay while
both crews recovered the waybills and tried to get them in order..  
                                                                          Harry Bundy  


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