The Atlantic & Southern Saturday Report

Started by Judge, January 05, 2019, 03:59:09 PM

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GPdemayo

Glad there weren't any pictures of Newt working in his birthday suit on this family friendly forum  ;D .....great yarn Bill.  8)
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

ACL1504

Quote from: GPdemayo on August 10, 2019, 03:45:31 PM
Glad there weren't any pictures of Newt working in his birthday suit on this family friendly forum  ;D .....great yarn Bill.  8)


Greg,

Yarn, nothing, it's the God awful truth!

Tom ;D
"If we are to guard against ignorance and remain free, it is the responsibility of every American to be informed."
Thomas Jefferson

Tom Langford
telsr1@aol.com

PRR Modeler

Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
Freelanced PRR Bellevue Subdivision

jrmueller

Once again a great entertaining story Judge.
Jim Mueller
Superintendent(Retired)
Westchester and Boston Railroad

S&S RR

Great story Bill.  One of the few times on the forum when we love not having pictures.
John Siekirk
Superior & Seattle Railroad

jimmillho


BandOGuy

And all along I believed the Florida panhandle was the only really cold part of Florida during the winter.
Silly me.
Working on my second million. I gave up on the first.

GPdemayo

Quote from: ACL1504 on August 10, 2019, 04:29:04 PM
Quote from: GPdemayo on August 10, 2019, 03:45:31 PM
Glad there weren't any pictures of Newt working in his birthday suit on this family friendly forum  ;D .....great yarn Bill.  8)


Greg,

Yarn, nothing, it's the God awful truth!

Tom ;D


and you think I didn't believe every work that was written..... :) :) ;)
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

jimmillho

Quote from: GPdemayo on August 11, 2019, 09:07:36 AM



and you think I didn't believe every work that was written..... :) :) ;)
[/quote]

Every WORK ??????

Jim

GPdemayo

Quote from: jimmillho on August 11, 2019, 12:48:56 PM



and you think I didn't believe every work that was written..... :) :) ;)

Every WORK ??? ???

Jim



Okay James.....I was in a hurry.....I'll change it when I gets a minutes.  ;D
Gregory P. DeMayo
General Construction Superintendent Emeritus
St. Louis & Denver Railroad
Longwood, FL

postalkarl

Hey:

everything is looking just beautiful. Keep those great pics flowing.

Karl

Judge

#341
August 17, 2019.
The weekly meeting of the A&S Board of Directors started on time at 0830 hours.  The progress on the pest control business was examined and it will soon be placed on the shores of the Tahope River, where it will no doubt make a major contribution to polluting the water.  All of this has been approved by the Tahope City Council, considering the mayor is the owner's cousin. 

We put the new IC diesels through their paces on the Summit level and then decided to bring the Pennsy Coal train up from the Bottoms on its regular run delivering coal to the Tahope Power Company and Hog Exchange.  Those Sharks really sound good with authentic Baldwin prime mover power and real Baldwin horns,  The A-B-A lash-up has no problem climbing the Ovalix with 21 cars and the train tracks very well.  As you might remember, the Pennsy has an agreement with the A&S to provide a regular coal supply to Tahope and, in the winter months, a section of the Pennsy's Broadway Limited swings south over ACL tracks to assist bringing snow birds to sunny Central Florida.
 
                                                                                                               

Jim and CLaire Miller and Greg DeMayo visited us and a general bull session took place until time for lunch at Smokey Bones. 

The bull session continued after lunch until about 1400 hours, when the day was declared over just prior to the daily afternoon thunderstorm.

This week's story involves a geographic feature of the A&S called "The Great Divide."  It is a bottomless canyon over which bridges are placed on all three levels of the railroad.  The Great Divide is located at the north end of the railroad and separates the east side from the west side.  Failure to put the bridges in place can result in catastrophe.   Hence, the misadventures of Newt and Short Stack continue.

                                                                                                       The Ride to the Great Divide

Newt Fisher continued his assignment on the pulpwood train as a student fireman on into the spring.  He had proven his abilities to the satisfaction of the A&S management and was approved for duty firing a coal burning locomotive. 

Early one morning Newt was called to fire a train of pulpwood cars from Piney Woods to the paper mill in Jacksonville.  The regular engineer, "Fatso" Johnson, was assigned elsewhere and Russel "Ballast Scorcher" Taylor , an engineer from Jacksonville, deadheaded to Tahope the night before on the Florida Special to make this run.  Taylor was familiar with local conditions, because he was born and raised in Tahope and had kin still living there. (Many Tahope natives have last names reflecting midieval occupations.)

The engine assigned to the run, a USRA Pacific, was coupled to a caboose and the train proceeded in reverse from the Sanlando yard for the short trip to Piney Woods.  This configuration meant the view of the bridge around Eaton's curve would be blocked from the engineer's side of the train.  Taylor would have to rely on Newt's vigilance to make sure the bridge was in place across The Great Divide. 

This being Newt's first day firing a coal burning steamer, he felt a little nervous and asked Taylor if he would mind if his cousin Short Stack rode in the cab as far as Piney Woods.  Taylor said he didn't mind and Short Stack climbed into the cab. 

When Taylor whistled off to proceed, he instructed Newt to look out the fireman's side window as the train approached Eaton's Curve. 

Newt hung out the fireman's side window and the cool morning breeze lulled him fast asleep.  Consequently, he did not notice that the bridge was "out" and the caboose was only eight or ten can lengths from the edge of the drop-off. 

Fortunately, Short Stack was alert and observed the approaching peril.  He let out a shriek and Taylor put her into emergency.  The jolt of the sudden brake application woke Newt and the engine screeched to a stop less than three feet from the edge of The Great Divide.

The conductor climbed down from the caboose and demanded an explanation from the engineer.  It was obvious who was at fault and when Newt returned to the roundhouse he lost his student fireman status and went on the extra board as a brakeman.

When asked to explain himself, Newt, who has a pathological fear of accomplishment, said, "I almost did something right today, but I went to sleep."

For his part in the incident, Taylor was given a week's unpaid vacation.  Short Stack was reinstated to his job of "sweeping up" at the roundhouse.

                                                           

ReadingBob

Another gem Bill.  Sorry I missed the festivities today.   :)
Bob Butts
robertbutts1@att.net

There's a fine line between Hobby and Mental Illness.

PRR Modeler

Whew, that was close! Great story Bill.
Curt Webb
The Late Great Pennsylvania Railroad
Freelanced PRR Bellevue Subdivision

jerryrbeach

Judge,

I think the boys on the A&S just proved the world is flat!
Jerry

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