The Atlantic & Southern Saturday Report

[tom.boyd.125]

Your Honor,
Great story and news that your recovery is progressing...
Tommy

[Judge]

Thank you, Tom.  Glad to hear you liked the story.  Tomorrow's story is one that relates a true experience from my days on the bench. 

[Judge]

Saturday Report May 22, 2021.

The Board of Directors met promptly at 8:30 a.m.  An inspection of the progress made in the past week was made (See Tom's Atlantic & Southern Build Thread for pix.)  As a member of the board and the official ticket agent of the railroad, your reporter can say that the section of the City of Tahope located south of the St. Johns River is coming along nicely.  The river scene itself is nearly completed.  A final coat is going to be applied atop the river itself and a few Florida "cattails" will be planted at the river's edge.  The salvage yard is very interesting and Tom puts just enough local flavor around it to make it a Central Florida scene.  Who would have thought a salvage yard would become one of many focal points on the railroad?

We decided to run SAL power for the morning.  The first choice was an E7 A/B lashup pulling a heavy freight.  Unfortunately, these engines had not been run for many months and they kept separating due to faulty (cheap) non-Kay Dee couplers.  The RIP track gang will fix that problem before the next meeting.

Next we switched power to a set of GP's and the freight traveled throuhout the Midlands without difficulty.

The jeeps ran low on fuel so they were spotted at the Sanlando diesel refueling tanks and an F3 A-B-A lashup took over the job as head end power. 

About that time, Greg DeMayo arrived on the scene and shortly thereafter we drifted to Del Dio's  for lunch. 

I have decided to occasionallyy relate a few stories that happeaned during my 26 years on the bench.  I will try to somehow fit them into the life and times of the City of Tahope and the Atlantic & Southern Railroad. 

Today's story is the first example of one of my true tales.  The bailiff in the story was assigned to my court for several years.  The lawyers called him "Lurch," behind his back, but he was a really good guy and he was with me so long he knew what I was going to do before i did it. 

                                                                                                    NEW YORK LAWYER IN TAHOPE

   One day, Officer Poovey was patrolling Highway 441 west of downtown Tahope, when he spied a speeding 1949 Cadillac heading towards Orlando.  Beings how Officer Poovey was armed with his ticket pad, he gave chase to the speeding vehicle. 
   Poovey activated his revolving red light and pulled the vehicle over.  As he approached the vehicle, he noticed there were two occupants and the vehicle displayed a New York license plate.  He said to the driver, "May I see your permit to operate a motor vehicle upon the highways of the State of Florida?"  The driver showed him his driver's license.  It turned out the driver and the passenger were brothers from Brooklyn.   
   The interior of the vehicle smelled like bourbon to Officer Poovey, which justified further investigation.  "Step out of the car, please," said Poovey, and the two occupants of the car complied.  He patted down both individuals "for officer safety" and discovered the passenger had an envelope in his jacket pocket that had marijuana in it. Poovey said to the driver, "Let me smell your breath, boy.  Man, you smell like the inside of Trackside Tavern on Sunday morning.  I'm placing you boys under arrest for possession of that wacky terbacky and for DUI.  I figger the one was drinkin' and drivin' and the other was aiding and abetting by bartending."
   The two arrestees were taken to the Tahope County Jail and booked on the charges.  They posted bond and were scheduled for a court date before Judge Elvin Thomas two weeks later for a pretrial conference.
   Judge Thomas held his pretrials on a "cattle call" docket and his courtroom was crowded with over 100 defendants, all awaiting a trial date.  Judge Thomas called the cases in alphabetical order and soon came to the cases of Joe and Michael Miller.  Judge Thomas figured the cases were related so he called both defendants to the bench. 
         Now, these two guys looked like they were from Brooklyn.  They had dark, straight hair combed back on the sides and their ashen color made them look like they had just gotten out of jail.  You know, the kind of guys with excess body hair who shave in the morning and need another shave by 10:00 a.m.   
   Judge Thomas said, "Well, boys, I see you have felony drug charges here and the docket does not say you have a lawyer.  Are you going to obtain a local attorney to help keep you out of the prison on these charges?"
        The older of the two, Joe, said, "Don't worry about us none, your honor, we're going to hire our lawyer from New York."  Judge Thomas said, "And who might that be?"  Joe replied, loud enough for all of the defendants seated in the courtroom to hear, "My cousin Vinny."
   Naturally, there was considerable snickering from the audience.  Judge Thomas rapped his gavel and called for silence.  And about that time, his bailiff, Deputy Charlie Boatwright, who looked a lot like Boris Karloff, started toward Joe.  Judge Thomas said, "You know, boy, my confidence in your determination to comply with the conditions of your bond has eroded to where there is no confidence at all.  Your bond is revoked, and you are remanded to custody.  Boatwright was right behind Joe by then and he slapped the handcuffs on Joe and whisked him out of the courtroom.  Naturally, the snickering in the courtroom stopped immediately.
   Judge Thomas looked at Michael and asked, "What about you?"  Michael responded, "I'm going to hire a local lawyer."  "Good idea," said Judge Thomas.  I am going to reschedule this here hearing for next month to give you boys time to hire a lawyer.  Now, son, you just step over to the clerk's desk and sign your notice for your new hearing date. 
           As Michel was signing his notice, he turned to Judge Thomas and said, "But judge, my brother has the keys to the car."  "You'll have to take that up with the sheriff," said the judge.  "He has the keys now.  If worse comes to worse, the Atlantic & Southern has a train going as far as Jacksonville tomorrow morning."
   

[GPdemayo]

To bad the boys from NYC got caught way back then and not now.....they could have claimed they had the wacky weed for medical purposes and gotten off. 

[Judge]

Greg - In the real story, the brothers were caught with their medicinal cocaine, not marijuana.  But since the A&S exists in 1950-51, I had to use marijuana for the story since there was little or no cocaine in Florida at that time.  In fact, my little friends and I thought marijuana was a drug that only existed in New York.  How times do change.

[Judge]

Saturday Report – May 29, 2021

There is no formal Saturday Report today because today is the day for the Babe to make the trip to Mount Dora for the monthly hair-do. 

There is a story.

                                                                                                   Roundhouse Forman of Locomotives

"Tater" Cartwright became the new Forman of Locomotives on the A&S when the Superintendent of Motive Power promoted him.  He replaced a much loved and respected railroader who held the position for over 25 years. 
   Surely everyone remembers "Tater."  He's the young chap whose girlfriend is Peaches Weaver, daughter of Rose Weaver Forester, who recently divorced her second husband, J. Pierpont Forester, so she could become an item with Officer Poovey of the Tahope Police Department. 
   Anyway, "Tater" was very excited about his promotion and all the responsibility it entailed.  Working in a roundhouse requires a variety of skills and can be quite dangerous.  There are machinists, electricians, plumbers, welders, boilermakers, and other trades at work and the Forman of Locomotives has to settle petty disputes that arise when the trades cannot decide who is responsible for a certain job.  He also has to set priorities and sometimes get covered with grease and oil while supervising a job. 
   Roundhouse workers are full of mischief and they tend to pull pranks on new apprentices. 
   Out on the RIP track, the "car toads" are responsible for putting cars needing repair back in order.  The apprentice "car toad" is usually the butt of pranks.  One of the duties of a "car toad" apprentice is to carry his superior's toolbox about and often it is nailed to the floor of a boxcar when the superior orders him to fetch it.  While the apprentice tugs away in vain, the superior hollers for the box with feigned impatience, expressing amazement for the delay.
   An apprentice is frequently sent to the storeroom to obtain a "dogin pin," a "wallakoo brace," or a "dozen rubber reamers."  He receives a stern balling out from the storekeeper for his lack of brainpower. 
   "Car toads" often have to practically rebuild boxcars and replacing the sills under the floor when they are damaged or rot with age is a routine assignment.  It takes about six men to carry a new sill on their shoulders from the lumber yard to the RIP track.  The new apprentice is placed in the middle of the sill and, on signal, the other five "car toads" duck down so the entire weight of the sill falls upon the apprentice. 
   One of the jobs that take special talent is replacing a tire on the wheel of a steam locomotive.  First, as you can imagine, the drivers of a steam engine are heavy and hard to handle no matter the size of the thing.  And changing a tire is not like changing the tire on an automobile.
   For newcomers, and diesel men who weren't around during steam days, a steam locomotive driver has a wheel and a separate tire, which is the part that actually touches the rail.  This tire eventually shows wear from use or misuse.
   The tire of a steam engine's wheel is not an inflatable item.  It is a steel rim that is machined to a specific diameter, slightly less than the diameter of the driver.  It is heated until it is white-hot, which expands the tire enough for it to be removed or installed on the wheel. When the tire cools, it shrinks onto the driver. 
   This tire-changing operation took place in hundreds of roundhouses every day during the days of steam and there are a few places, that keep the skills necessary to change a tire even today.
   "Tater" Cartwright's promotion, and its significant pay increase, will probably motivate him to finally propose to Peaches, who moved in with "Tater" when her mother moved Officer Poovey into the family home.
   Any of the loyal readers of this report who wish to view a video of how a tire is changed on the driver of a steam locomotive can access a video at the sites below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1EpBFebrfo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im7FcwpbO1A

[GPdemayo]

Great episode Bill.....love the tool box nailed to the floor & enjoyed the videos, thanks. 

[Judge]

Atlantic & Southern Saturday Report - June 6, 2021

The Board of Directors met at 8:30 a.m.  The Director of Maintenance, Will Fixer, located the elusive short which had been troubling operations.  Turns out, it wasn't a wiring problem after all.  A passenger car spotted on a storage track in the Bottoms had fouled a turn-out.  Simple problems sometimes take a lot of time to resolve.

A progress inspection revealed 99% completion of the project from the Tahope River South past the Cirus Processing Plant.  The newest addition to the area is a Cuban (Spanish) Restaurant named Gusano Loco. It features classic Cuban dishes including Chicken and Yellow rice, Shrimp Valdez, and Trout Russian Style, along with Cuban Coffee and hand-rolled Tampa Cigars.

The directors decided to upgrade the railroad's SAl Baldwin Centipede diesels with WOW Sound.  The units will be delivered to the Ucita Yard for the upgrade next week.  Meanwhile, one of the Baldwins was put through its paces.  These diesels suffer from the same troubles as the prototypes, but the addition of WOW Sound should take care of most objections.  Hopefully, some additional weight can be added.  Fifteen cars is about all they can handle unless double-headed (Yes, we have two of them.  The SAL only had 14 of these monsters, which were obsolete upon delivery.)  At least parts don't fall off while the engines are in operation.

The motive power was switched to the more reliable SAL Geeps and they traveled up the Ovalix to Summit without mishap. 

Greg DeMayo and Curt Webb arrived in time for lunch and off we went to Del Dio's before your reporter called it a day.

This week's story is derived from an article in the February 1951 Railroad Magazine.  it sort of complements last week's story about changing a tire on a steam locomotive.

                                                                                                          Newt Fisher's Close Call

A lot of activity takes place in a roundhouse and locomotive shop.  The Atlantic & Sothern's roundhouse, located in Tahope, Florida, is no exception.  All but the heaviest repairs and boiler work can be scheduled there.  Additionally, there is the car repair shop and the storehouse, which contains a variety of tools and replacement parts.  A RIP (Repair In Place) track located near the roundhouse accommodates minor repairs for both cars and locomotives. 
   As Forman of Locomotives, it is "Tater" Cartwright's job to assign locomotives to the scheduled traffic as well as the extras.  The Director of Maintenance, Will Fixer, is responsible to schedule the work each day while Ralph (Nut Splitter) Turner, the Roundhouse Forman, supervises the work and looks out for safety infractions.  The Chief of Car Repairs (Head Cartoad), Henry Tinker, supervises a gang of car repairmen who work in the car shop and on the RIP track.
   All roundhouse workers are expected to pitch in when needed to keep the motive power and rolling stock in good mechanical condition.
   One day, while helping change a tire on one of the drivers of a big locomotive, Ray Lee (Newt) Fisher, came near getting killed.  Changing a tire requires technique, which Newt sadly lacked, and it takes four skilled men to balance a driver weighing several tons and mount it on the rack used when the tire is heated white-hot so the tire will expand and can be removed. 
   Rolling the driver into place, even with the help of a crane, is dangerous work.  As always, accidents happen quickly and without warning.  While maneuvering the six-foot driver into place, it struck the rack at too great an angle and skidded off of the axel hub, throwing all of the men off-balance.  The driver crashed towards the roundhouse floor and came within an inch of cutting Newt in half.  Fortunately, the most serious injuries were minor cuts and bruises. 
   Newt, visibly shaken up, took the rest of the day off and played some pool at the Trackside Tavern, a watering hole that is on occasion more dangerous than the roundhouse.

[ACL1504]

Well, we didn't have a close call but we did have lots of fun today on the A&S RR.

Tom 

[GPdemayo]

We sure did.....

[ReadingBob]

Great story with a great ending.  Sorry I missed the festivities on Saturday.  I'll be up North the next two weekends but after that I'll try to get down for a gathering.   

[Judge]

Saturday Report - June 12, 2021.

The Board of Directors of the Atlantic & Southern Railroad met at 8:30 a.m.  The scenery construction is currently focused on the area north of the Tahope River on the peninsula on the Midlands level.  The photos posted on the Atlantic & Southern Build this past week show the progress being made.  More progress should be made this week.  The construction crew is anxious to move northward towards downtown Tahope.

We decided to clear the mainline at Summit and ran the freight spotted there down to Sanlando Yard.  Then we moved the Champion from the Bottoms to the Midlands for a run before moving it up to Summit.  The Champ is a fine-looking train.  Today's power was an ACL E7 A-B lash-up, pulling nine cars and an ACL reefer. We brought the Champ back down to the Bottoms and spotted her there until next Saturday. 

Lunch was at Del Dio's.  Then we called it a day.

There will be no story this week.  Your reporter is taking a couple of weeks off due to writer's block. 

[ACL1504]

The Judge forgot to mention we experienced no short circuits on Saturday. I thought it was the end of the world. 

Tom

[deemery]

The Judge forgot to mention we experienced no short circuits on Saturday. I thought it was the end of the world. 

Tom

That's because if he wrote it up, someone would think it was a "Saturday Report piece of fiction" :-)

dave

[Judge]

Saturday Report - June 19, 2021 (delayed until June 20 due to inattention of the author).

The Board of Directors met at precisely 8:30 a.m.  A Coke and a diet Pepsi provided the morning pick-me-up before serious inspection of the progress on the Midlands Peninsula.  (See Tom's photos on his thread). 

The Board recognized a failure to feature Seaboard steam during our Saturday runs so The Seaboard Q-3 Mike was fired up and coupled to a twelve car freight.  The Mike easily hauled the 12 cars around the Midlands flatlands and climbed the Ovalix to Summit without a struggle.   

On the A&S, the Q-3 is a PFM USRA Pacific, modified to include flying pumps on the front of the smokebox.  Back during the day, railroaders called the Q-3's "ugly," but they really did the job for the Seaboard. In Richard Prince's book on the subject, he writes that construction began on the 118 Q-3's at ALCO's Schenectady works in 1923.  They had Vanderbilt tenders.  Some had Duplex stokers and others had Elvin stokers.  The pumps on the smokebox were cross-compound pumps.  These engines had Delta trailing trucks with Franklin boosters.  Your reporter failed to bring his camera with him to the Saturday meeting so a photograph of the Q-3 is not available at this time.  However, Dr. Google has several photos of the prototype if you inquire at Seaboard Air Line Q-3 Micado steam locomotive.

After the Q-3 was returned to its storage track, we brought up the Shark-powered coal train for a run delivering coal to the Tahope engine servicing facility. We had a bit of a problem with the Sharks derailing near the Ovalix, a problem we have not had before.  The investigation into the cause was deferred after we discovered reversing the B unit temporarily solved the problem.  A link of the video of the Sharks rolling through Sanlando is included below.

Regular readers of this report, and who follow the adventures of the Atlantic & Southern know that the A&S president and the Pennsy's president came to an agreement  whereby the Pennsy would provide a weekly coal train to Tahope County and a Florida edition of the Broadway Limited during "the season." 

Sharks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUGDErWSKV4

Broadway Limited
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vD0uwakaHo&t=19s

The Board adjourned the meeting at 11:00 and traveled by automobile (no AMTRAK service available - but what's new?) to Del Dio's for lunch. 

No story this week and no report next week due to the monthly hair appointment in Mount Dora.

However, your reporter made some remarks on Tom's Atlantic & Southern Build Thread yesterday that are sort of a story. 

Back in two weeks.