A FITTING WAY TO END THE JOURNEY.... WHERE IT BEGAN............
CHAPTER FIVE – JANUARY 21, 1974
LITTL’ PUDDY
Winter in Puddington Valley can be harsh; really harsh. For a kid from Toronto the
sight of a six foot snow drift can really startle you the first time you see one.
Phil had come over to our house and he and I had set about reviewing the copies
of “Spanner” magazine that he’d brought.. School was closed for the third day in
a row; I would never have admitted it to Phil but I would have almost preferred
to be in school – sitting around in the house surrounded by six feet of snow was
depressing.
“How many years of that magazine do you have “ I asked Phil, only half paying attention
to his answer. “I’ve got the last eight years plus a few of the newer CP Rail employee
magazines” said Phil, thumbing through a later edition of the Spanner. I picked
up a copy and glanced at the cover, wondering if we’d ever be able to see the front
lawn or driveway again. On the cover was a photograph of a bright white fifty foot
double door box car in the Puddington Valley livery.
“What’s this” I ask Phil. “I’ve never seen any fifty footer painted like this before.”
I continued. “And you probably won’t see one ever” said Phil. “That’s Littl’ Puddy”
exclaimed Phil.
“Littl’ who” I asked with a cynical growl. “Littl’ Puddy” said Phil “ The famous
fifty footer that made the cover of the magazine. Don’t tell me I never told you
about Littl’ Puddy before...?” “No” I said, shaking my head. “You never mentioned
a Littl’ Puddy before and if you had I think I’d remember such a weird name. What
the heck was “Littl’ Puddy” all about.? “
“Get your coat” said Phil bounding up for the couch, and heading for the front door.
“What” I exclaimed, “Why, where are we going” ? I asked, not believing that Phil
would actually expect me to go out in this unendurable weather for anything less
than a chance to ride a Royal Hudson. “We’re going to Millers – you’re going to
hear about Littl’ Puddy from the guy who knew her best.” And with that he shoved
his feet into his Kodiaks and pulled on his coat. Silently, I followed his lead;
not with the same vigor that Phil had, for I wasn’t so thrilled with the idea of
walking a half a mile in this snow to hear a story about anything named “Littl’
Puddy”.
We made it to Millers Diner in just under a half an hour – I thought it was a half
a life time and was ready to drop in a snow drift and wait for the spring thaw.
Opening the door we saw the usual crowd of railway men and truck drivers. We dusted
ourselves off and hung up our coats. “Toast and a java” yelled Phil as we made our
way up to the counter. “Same” I said somewhat more quietly. We took a seat near
a couple of CP Rail hostlers from the yard.
“Earl” said Phil, patting a large man square of the back. He turned and looked down
at Phil; a smile breaking over his weather beaten face. “Hey kid, how’s things”
said Earl. “What brings ya out in this muck – can’t be Joe’s food, cause that’ll
kill ya” exclaimed Earl who clearly knew Phil and liked the young rail buff.
“This does” exclaimed Phil, pointing to the cover of the Spanner magazine that he’d
tucked up under his jacket. “ There’s my girl” said Earl “ Wonder how she’s doing”
he mused, as he stared at the cover, almost as if he was looking at a picture of
a long lost girlfriend. “ This here’s a buddy of mine” said Phil “ and he’s never
heard of Littl’ Puddy so I thought, seeing as you’re just sittin here, you’d tell
him the story....”
“Sure” said Earl, “be glad to.... it was three years ago, no, it was almost three
and a half years ago when......”
....." Earl, did you hear"? Earl hardly paid any attention; Steve was always popping
off about some unfounded rumour or story that some passing by loco crew had told
him and that made him crazy. It was a wise policy to ignore Earl when he started
a sentence with "did you hear..."
"I said, DID YOU HEAR WHAT DEM GUYS SAID ABOUT LITTL' PUDDY...!!!" Now, that got
my attention; what was Earl saying about littl' Puddy"... "No Earl, I didn't - what's
that about Littl Puddy ?".
"Dem guys from 45 said that they was suppos'd wait an hour to get a late shunt and
that they'd be gettin two or three 40's, a couple of tanks and a white double door
fifty !"
"A white double door fifty !" I thought, realizing that Earl may have actually stumbled
on to something important for once. " Earl, you said it was the crew from the 45,
the eastbound hot shot ? "
"Yep" said Earl "They was just heading over to Millers for a bite and then they
was expecting the shunt from Northhill with dem cars... You don't think that Walter
finally found a way to get rid of Littl' Puddy do ya "?
Walter had been trying to get rid of Littl' Puddy for over a year now. Back in the
spring of 72, Mr. Deyell, the Division Super had arranged the purchase of 12 used
50' double doors from the Great Northern. When the cars arrived they were shopped
at the Puddington yards and were given the required repairs and some fresh paint.
Eleven of the cars got the standard oxide red paint with the new diamond logo and
the "parallel slogan". But one night old Buford and Hans had gotten into the rye
and waters a bit early and for some reason they decided to go back to the shop and
paint the sixth car white.... bright white.
In the morning Walter Dion, the shop super arrived to find a bright white and red
50' foot double door car- looking like a SOO Line special, the car was a master
piece - and that drove Walter nuts.
" Get that snow white piece of %$#@@! into the paint shop and paint it red like
the rest" he exclaimed. But before anyone could find Buford and Hans, the Division
Super came over; saw the car and fell in love with it. He congratulated Walter on
the paint job and immediately had it photographed for the "Spanner" magazine. This
made Walter even madder.
For over a year, Walter had tried to get the car re-painted with no luck. Having
given up on that plan, it became obvious that he'd have to do something else to
get the SOO Special out of his life. It now looked like he'd succeeded.
The fifty's were usually confined to the sub divisions's own rails. Used to transport
lumber and paper from the Domtar mill to the Northhill yards for transship, they
only occasionally made the trip to Vancouver and then always got returned promptly.
They NEVER went East. But this time, Littl' Puddy ( we'd nicknamed her that to anger
Walter even more) was being assigned to the 45, an eastbound hot shot that only
made stops in Northern Ontario and Montreal before heading to Quebec City and her
deep water port. If Littl' Puddy was assigned to that, we'd most certainly never
see her again.... 50' double doors were a prize for any road.
"I'm goin to see Walter" cried Earl and before I could say two words he ran to the
truck and was off to the shops. "EARL, don't do....." It was too late.... I knew
Earl was goin to end up knocking Walter on his butt, but there wasn't anything I
could do about that now; I had to get to the crew of the 45 and see if I could stop
that shunt.
"There they are" I thought as I ran across the mains near Northhill; my heart and
lungs ready to explode from the two mile trot. "Hey guys, wait a minute" I yelled,
panting for oxygen and staggering towards the confused crew.
"Yeh pal, what's the problem eh ?" said the engineer, wary that a nut case had flagged
them down. " You guys on the 45 t'night" I asked. "yep" said the fireman " she's
all ready to go - last cars just shunted and SD's are warmed up...."
"Do you have a white 50' double door anywhere" ? I asked. The engineer looked at
me like I had escaped for a loonie bin " Beats me pal; they all look the same after
20 years - why do you care ?" he said with a curious gaze.
"Never mind, I'll see for myself" I said, running off towards the rear of the consist.
"Nice talking with ya.... ya nut" said the engineer as he and the fireman mounted
the stairs of the lead SD 40.
Back and back I ran, boxcar after boxcar, then a string of ACF's, a few tanks, more
oxide red box cars; GN fifties and a mixture of US road 40's. Still, no Littl' Puddy.
Then I saw him; it was Earl, just standing by a Penn Central 50' and beside it -
Littl' Puddy. " Earl, I thought you'd gone to find Walter" I said, trying to catch
my breath.
"I did, but then I realized I'd have plenty of time to drop his sorry butt later....."
his voice trailed off "I just wanted to say good bye to the ol' gal...." Earl looked
away, and then reached out and grabbed the stirup of Littl' Puddy and held it like
it was his own child.
I heard the air brakes release and realized that the 45 was about to pull out. I
went over to Earl and patted Littl Puddy. " See ya ol girl" I said. "You come home
soon, we'll miss ya"....... Earl just nodded and let go of the stirrup. "Bye" said
Earl and as the consist slowly pulled forward - as Littl Puddy drifted out of sight
he and I walked silently away.
" A Blue and a shot at Millers" I said... "Sure Steve, thanks" said Earl....
"I wonder where Littl Puddy will end up" said Earl...... I wondered that too, thinking
it was a shame that we couldn't track or trace her movements..... oh well, I thought,
she's just a boxcar..... But I knew she meant more to us than that..................I
hope she stays well...
“Wow” I said... and then I said it again “Wow....” you mean that “Littl’ Puddy hasn’t
ever made it back, not even once”? “Nope” said Earl, “and I doubt that she ever
will.” “What with the car shortage and all, I guess she’s hauling lumber in the
south or wayfreight in Texas by now.”
Phil and I returned to our table and our toast and coffee…. I couldn’t believe the
story I had just been told; yet somehow I knew it was true. As I munched on my slightly
burned toast I wondered if it would be possible for someone to find that car. I
knew car tracking was done by railways but I didn’t have a clue how we could fine
“Littl’ Puddy” without access to the ACI system……
“Come on” said Phil, grabbing his scarf and heading for the door. I glumly followed;
wondering, would I ever see Littl’ Puddy…?
FOUR YEARS LATER……………….. April 29th……
“Yea Phil; third year was tough but I think I got all my courses” I said into the
phone receiver; sitting at the desk in the carshop office. “I almost botched my
last practical in advanced mechanical engineering 302 but I managed to scrap through.
The rest should be ok”…”Ok Phil; I’ll see ya tonight when you get in…bye”. I hung
up the phone;
Phil was coming back tonight; his AHL Rochester Americans having been bounced from
the second round. Coach Cherry would not have been a pleasant guy to be around after
losing to Hershey and Phil would be in a more foul mood than usual. Oh well, I thought,
Phil was playing pro hockey and that was pretty cool. It would be nice to see him
regardless of how many teeth he’d lost this season, or how bad a mood he’d be in.
Phil would be joining me in the car shop for the summer. Me; the “almost engineer”
now in the lofty position of second assistant Divisional Engineering supervisor
(work term) and Phil on the second trick working his arse off doing whatever I and
the ‘real” bosses told him to do. It would be a fun summer being back with the guy
who was my best friend in the world.
I gazed at the hot list for the car shop repairs; it was a reasonably light load;
USTX 33665 needed a wheel swap; “no biggie” I thought to myself. CP 254338 was back
for more work on that “B” truck, and we still had those stuck doors on the last
two 2000 series PVR 50’ double doors. “When we will ever get rid of those hunks
of junk” I thought to myself as I reached over to the telex machine to grab the
piece of paper it just spit out. The 2000’s were old and had been abused and over
used for years. They had been bought second hand and were on their last legs.
Glancing at the telex sheet I barely noticed the new work order it contained. “RTR
(Returned to Road) PVR 2006 for disposition. Confirm exchange at Samuel Ridge Junction
0234 hrs. – Signed K. Norman – CPR Puddington Valley Sub Dispatch
“Disposition…” I thought “Oh rats; that means a ton of paperwork and I hate doing……”
Suddenly I stopped…..”PVR 2006”; I whispered out loud……”PVR 2006…” I said again…….
I jumped up from the desk and bolted for the door; barely grabbing my jacket and
cap. Down the stairs past a couple of first trick guys who almost got knocked over
in a heap. The door flew open on the old station wagon and I screeched the tires
on the pavement as I dropped the car into gear and blew out of the yard towards
the junction.
“PVR 2006…” I kept repeating to myself like it was a Gregorian chant. The junction
was about 5 miles from the car shop. I arrived there in less than 7 minutes………and
slammed the old wagon to a sudden stop…. I got out of the car and stood….. and stared….
Littl’ Puddy…….It was actually “Littl’ Puddy. …. The very same car I’d learned of
years ago form the ol’ Earl at Millar’s; the same car that had graced the cover
of “Spanner”…… the same car that had been the bain of ol man Deyell’s last years
with the railway….. and she was “home”.
I walked over to where two hostlers were standing, looking at the old double door.
She was weather beaten; covered with signs, stickers and graffiti. She was rusted;
her doors were repainted in an odd; multi colour scheme. She had mismatched trucks
and wheel sets…. She was a sight.
“ What the hell is this” asked Tom; a new hostler. “Ya; this this a joke, right”
said Anthony, another recent hire. I smiled; and with the swagger of a “old head”
said “ Don’t ya know nothing; that’s Littl’ Puddy”. I looked both of them, older
and bigger than me, right in the eye and said in a "shop foreman - gruff voice “
You listen up; call up 23 and tell Ralph to haul his cookies over here right now;
I want this car in bay one within the hour….” "But Ralph’s got that big cut over
that Northhill…” began Anthony before I turned at cut him off.
“ I don’t give a !@##@ what Ralph has to do; he can !@$@@ well work faster, late
or hand in his card, but he better have that car in MY shop before I get back from
lunch” I spat and turned towards the wagon. “Yes sir” said Tom, running over to
the shack to get a hold of the switcher.
I got in the wagon and drove away. As I headed for Millar’s I couldn’t keep the
smile off my face. I’d wait until Phil was home and the first Molson was downed
to suggest…no “tell” him that we had to go and collect ol’ Earl…. cause I had something
to show them……I had no idea where she’d been; no clue as to how she’d gotten into
that condition. I’d have to pull the ACI records on Monday but that could wait…..
Littl’ Puddy was home.
I will be preparing a magazine article about what the members of SRO did with Littl'
Puddy. She will be run at some shows; will grace the window of a major Toronto Train
shop in July and will ofcourse; earn a living on the PVR. I can not thank you all
for what you did to make this project a reality. We sent a little car around the
world guys..... and made a lot of friends along the way.
Thanks............Mike
