Ace
Being a railroad engineer is all that Kenny ever wanted to do. He loved the job
and most days he was ready to get on that engine and do what he loved. But since
this merger into Chessie, he ended up with a new yard boss named Bill. No matter
how hard he tried, he could not get along with Bill, but he was not alone in this,
as no one got along with him. He was always on Kenny’s back about something. Even
though he would rather work his usual unit coal train run, it kept him around the
yard and Bill too much. He knew Bill would get transferred again soon, so Kenny
decided to work the extra board for a little while. Even though it kept him away
from home more than he liked, it paid more and most importantly, kept him away from
Bill.
Today he had a run of mixed freight which would take him to the Shelby Yard in Eastern
Ky. He had never been there, but had heard that the scenery through the Breaks on
the Va. And Ky. border was beautiful. There were several tunnels and high trestles
to cross. Even though he had done that many times, it was always exciting to do
it again in new terrain. As usual Bill was chewing out Jeff, as Kenny came into
the office to pick up his paperwork. All he could overhear was “how could Jeff let
that box car get mixed into his train without it being on the manifest, and now
he was going to catch it when it ended up at the next yard.” Luckily Bill was too
distracted to say much except, hurry up and get that extra out of here NOW, its
backing up the yard! Kenny hurried out of the office and climbed aboard the SD-9.
Everything was ready to go when he got there, so he quickly stowed his grip and
cooler and did all the safety checks so they could get underway. Before he could
hardly get in the seat, he was given a clear signal and noticed Bill standing there
scowling. Since the tracks were a little damp from dew, he hit a little sand, released
the brakes as he eased up the throttle and slowly moved out of the yard.
The trip had proven to be uneventful for the most part, except for that idiot running
thru the crossing gates near Haysi. Thought for sure we had got that guy. It was
so close another coat of paint and he would have been hit. Kenny felt lucky that
he had never had a collision with a car at a grade crossing and hoped it never happened.
As everyone had said, the scenery was breathtaking and he had never been across
trestles that high before. He would gladly take another trick to this area again,
any time. It was amazing how wild the Russell Fork river was as it went thru the
gorge into Ky. At times he wondered if the water would splash off the rocks right
into the loco cab. Even more surprising was how tame the river became when it reached
Elkhorn City. After 10 hours he was glad to be this far along. As the train cleared
the Elkhorn yard it meant the end of the run was close as Shelby was the next yard
on the line.
As the Shelby Yard came into sight, he received signals to pull into the side track.
They came and said that they were going to have to put this train into the yard
tracks until tomorrow. It was going to be that long before they could get another
crew out to forward the train on to the Russell Yard. Since Russell is a big yard
on the Ohio River, the cars would be split up there and be sent on to their final
destinations. It was unusual for box cars to move thru coal country like this, but
due to some unexpected track maintenance and lot of freight was being rerouted.
Kenny went into the small yard office to turn in his paperwork while the yard crew
went about breaking up the train to fit into the yard tracks. After he was done,
Kenny went next door to get something to eat and check into his room for the night.
If everything went OK he would catch another train back toward home in the morning
and be able to sleep in his own bed by tomorrow night. Especially with all these
trains being rerouted he should be able to make it home soon. Kenny was only half-way
thru his open faced hot roast beef sandwich when he looked and saw the yard boss
coming his way with an unhappy look on his face. Jim said, did you just bring that
extra in from Dante Va.? Kenny hesitated for a second, wondering what this was all
about and said “yes, is there a problem?” Jim started in with, did you get a good
look at your manifest before you left? Well, no, they were backed up real bad and
the yard boss was rushing me to get started ASAP. I see, said Jim. Its just there
is this empty boxcar that is not listed anywhere and now I got to figure out what
to do with it. Never heard of this line, something called Puddington Valley RR.
Must be some kind of short line in Canada. Only reason I say that is because of
the maple leaf in the logo. I am trying to find out where it is and see if I can
get this car routed to the proper place. Kenny said thoughtfully, “oh that must
have been what Bill our yard master was yelling about this morning. Jims response
was, Bill, that Son-of -a-Biscuit Eater, should have know. He is always causing
me problems. Figured he was the one that gave me this headache. I was Bill’s assistant
a few years ago and he nearly gave me an ulcer. I took the job here at Shelby because
I thought it would get me as far from him as I could get, but I see now they have
sent him to Va. But don’t worry, I will get him back for this and he will regret
it. Kenny chuckled for a minute and said “if I can help you get him back let me
know, or at least let me be there to see it happen.” Jim, said “sure thing.” Well
right now I have that stray boxcar over on the bad order track until I can figure
out what to do with it. If I can’t find out anything soon, I will mix it make in
with that extra you brought in. At least when it gets to Russell, they should have
something going North and get it a little closer to where it belongs. Jim thanked
Kenny for his help and apologized for interrupting his supper. While he was finishing
his dinner, he began to think how much he wished Jim was his yard boss and if Bill
didn’t transfer soon, he would try to come to Shelby. On the way up to his room,
Kenny glanced over and saw this lone boxcar sitting out of the way. That must be
the one Jim was talking about. Thinking to himself, that car could use some new
paint or at least go thru the wash rack. Either that PVRR does not take care of
its rolling stock, or its been lost for a while. Wonder if it will ever make it
back to Canada. Lets face it, the coal fields of Eastern Kentucky is a long way
from its home.
Kenny got an early wake up call from the desk. Said if he hurried, there was train
headed toward Dante and he could be home early. He asked the desk clerk to have
them wrap up a fried egg sandwich to go and some coffee for his thermos and he would
be right there. As he walked toward the office, Kenny glanced toward the track where
that lost boxcar was sitting last night, but it was gone. Figured, Jim must have
figured out someway to route it back to its owners.
A couple of days later, the yard secretary at Russell was looking through paperwork
and realized there was one too many cars sitting on the classification track. How
did this rusty and dirty box car from the PVRR get here, and even better how did
it get here without paperwork? Henry knew he would catch H-E double hockey sticks,
if his boss realized their was unaccounted for cars in the yard. Only thing Henry
could think to do with it was, sneak it in that hot shot freight that is heading
to Colorado. That thing will be a hundred miles away before anyone realizes it is
there and I won‘t get in any trouble. As long as its out of my hair, somebody else
can figure out what to do with it!
A wet bound manifest rolled into the Grand Valley today. Thewy had captured the
illegal imagrant from the northland. Due to legal matters, she was forced into captive
service by the DRGW. She has now got the properdocumentation to work in the states.
Yesterday I ran Little Puddy on the SNNT oNe-Trak layout.
Also decided to work on the work order that Robert had included in the car.
One of the doors has a broken guide, and the top long guide is bent. The BN shops
here have replaced the door with one we had set aside ready for one of our cars.
Hi all,
A few pics to show where Lil' Puddy was earning her keep in the mountains of the
store layout at The Grande Depot.
As far as that tat', I told her to watch out for those nasty Gremlin Brothers.
Puddy has been picked up by Local train 106 at 4:55PM
Puddy arrives at Kachina yard at 7:29PM
Tomorrow Puddy will be assigned to a local to Valle Rojo to the box company for
loading with furniture boxes.
Puddy was seen leaving Kachina yards at 8:07 AM in route on train 245 to the box
factory at Valle Rojo.
The trainmaster at Kachina was notified at 11:46 AM that puddy had arrived at the
box factory. Due to the fame of this car some locals came out and took a picture
or two.
Tomorrow Puddy is scheduled for pickup and movement to Woods Furniture to off-load
chair boxes and then picked up by the afternoon train back to Kachina.
Well folks , This AM Puddy was picked up by train 249 at 8:49AM from the box plant
at Valle Rojo and was on his way to Woods Furniture in Edgewood, about a 3 hour
movement. He was photographed arriving at Woods Furniture at 11:52AM.
He was picked up by train 133 on its return trip to Kachina at 3:09PM and proceeded
north to arrive at Kachina ,empty, around 7:00PM.
I was able to pick up train 133 about 25 miles south of Kachina and chased it to
the siding at Dry Wash. While taking some railfan shots there , and while train
133 was waiting on the Dry Wash siding for the Valley Arrow passenger train to pass
on it's way to El Paso , I spotted some uninvited passengers boarding Lil Puddy.
I tried to warn them of the ruthlessness of Barton McSuede (the local ACTRR lawman).
They ignored my plees to de-board. I think they may plan to ride Puddy to the End
Of The Line.
Puddy arrived at Kachina at 7:24PM and is currently awaiting new orders.
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