The Atlantic & Southern Saturday Report

[PRR Modeler]

Great stories Bill. I hope your back is doing better.

[Judge]

Saturday Report – February 6, 2021

The Board of Directors met on time at 8:30 a.m.  Your reporter's wife, Cindy, provided transportation to the meeting and made her exit for the car wash and shopping. 

There has been good progress on the church and cemetery.  We noticed there is a railroad crossing near the church and the A&S engineers make sure to blow loud warning blasts when approaching the crossing, just as the rules require.  The parishioners probably do not appreciate the "train music" during services but rules are rules.

For operations today, we brought a freight, powered by two SAL Geeps, down from Summit to the Midlands.  We have some kind of gremlin that interferes with smooth operations.  Could be dirty track, could be electrical, could be a combination of both.  The length of the train within the reversing track could be suspect.

After a full tour of the Midlands, we decided to change power and swapped the Geeps for an A-B set of ACL F2s.  These units are painted in the post-1957 black and yellow scheme, which took the place of the beautiful purple and silver schemes originally painted on ACL's diesel units.  The purple paint tended to fade in the sun and new orders of the stuff did not always match the last batch, so ACL went to Black with yellow trim.  The good part of the change was the addition of all steel cabooses, painted orange, with black lettering announcing "Thanks for Using Coast Line." 

Greg Demayo and his wife, Peggy, arrived at 10:30.  Greg showed off his Broadway Limited "Big Boy" and we put the engine through its paces.  Reportedly, it can pull 20 or more cars up the Ovalix, but time did not allow such a test due to lunch.

Cindy returned at 11:00 and we all headed for Del Dio's.  It was a fun day and there were no fights or arrests.

Today's story is the final chapter in the tragic break-up of Rose and J. Pierpont Forester.  And a sad story it is. 

                                                                                                 SCANDAL IN TAHOPE – PART III

   Last week we learned that Rose Forester forcibly evicted her husband, J. Pierpont Forester, who is president of the Tahope State Bank, from the marital home and her Paramore, Officer Eldridge Poovey, moved in and took his place. 
   When Pierpont Forester's Attorney, Marvin Bello, learned of this event, he immediately assigned his investigator, Shirley Miniheart, to dig up admissible evidence of the affair. 
       Miniheart snooped around the police station and found that Poovey was not trying to keep his affair with Rose Forester a secret.  In fact, he had bragged about it to the staff.  Armed with her trusty camera, Miniheart snuck up to the window of Rose's bedroom and obtained several photographs of the couple in para delicto.   
Earlier, Rose had obtained the services of Larry Lickem, a plaintiff's lawyer who had recently lost a personal injury case against the railroad (see p. 2).  Lickem sent a letter to Marvin Bello demanding ownership of the marital home, $2,000.00 a month alimony, and $3,000.00 in attorney fees.  Bello found this demand to be unacceptable and suggested the case should be set for trial.
      The courthouse in the City of Tahope is located on the top floor of the City Hall building. 
      The local circuit judge is Judge Elvin P. Thomas, who has been on the bench since 1939 and is a well-respected old-timey Florida Judge.  Judge Thomas keeps a spittoon under his bench and he rarely misses it.  It is rumored that he will be selected to fill the next vacancy on the Florida Supreme Court because the Governor's general counsel is Judge Thomas' son.
      The Forester case was set for trial and Larry Lickem called Rose as his first witness.  He asked Rose to explain her grounds for divorce and she responded, "extreme cruelty."  Lickem asked her to "explain what you mean" and Rose stated, "He spends every Friday night out playing poker and drinking with his friends, leaving me alone and despondent." 
      On cross-examination, Rose admitted that she knew Eldridge Poovey, but claimed he was merely rooming at her house because she needed the rent money since her husband was not paying her any alimony.  She denied romantic involvement with Poovey.  When confronted with the photographs taken by Miniheart she testified, "Oh, yes, I forgot about that."
      Judge Thomas listened to the testimony and stated, "There is no doubt in my mind that the counter-plaintiff husband has proven the wife is guilty of adultery.  These here photographs are explicit.  Her conduct bars her claim for alimony.  The Counterpetition for divorce is granted, alimony is denied and attorney fees are denied. Rose can pay her lawyer with the money she stole from the bank accounts and any money left over is 'go away' money.  The husband is to select a realtor and list the house for sale.  Proceeds to be equally divided.  Next case."
      And so, Marvin Bello maintained his spotless record of never losing a case, and, during the entire course of the litigation, Larry Lickem never thought to inquire about Pierpont Forester's relationship with his twenty-five-year-old secretary, Volupta Busty.  More about her later.

[deemery]

... Pierpont Forester's relationship with his twenty-five-year-old secretary, Volupta Busty.  More about her later.

As Paul Harvey used to say, "And now for the rest of the story...." 

dave

p.s.  Judge, have you ever presided over a case of legal malpractice/incompetence? 

[PRR Modeler]

Great story Bill.  I sure miss meeting up with you guys.

[GPdemayo]

Twisted ending to a tall tale.....good one Bill. 

[Judge]

Dave -
I was only involved in one legal malpractice case - it was my own.  I made some ruling (I don't remember what) in a criminal case the first month i was on the bench and the defendant filed a pro se (without a lawyer) complaint against me in Federal Court in Orlando.  A federal marshal served me with a summons.  I called the state attorney general's office and was referred to a lawyer whose name was George Georgaff.  He told me not to worry and to send the complaint to him.  He said he would file a motion for summary judgment and in about six months I would get a dismissal order.  It happened just like George said.  I called him to thank him and he said, "It was nothing.  We get these suits all the time.  But, judge, you need to understand the case is not over.  In about thirty days the defendant will sue me.  There is a lawyer down the hall that doesn't do anything but defend me."  Ah, democracy.  It ain't pretty but it's better than anything else.  BTW, that was the only suit against me in 24 years.

I presided over several medical malpractice suits.  Mostly orthopedic surgeons whose names kept coming up on our dockets.  Some of the cases were truly malpractice and others were close calls.   The typical case involved a "bad result" instead of, say, cutting off the wrong leg.  But in all cases, the defense would insist on having their own doctors perform what is called an IME (Independent Medical Examination.)  There were two doctors in Central Florida who performed these examinations and they always testified that either there was no problem with the standard of care given to the Plaintiff or there was no permanent injury.  And, oh, neither doctor could say how many IME's he performed in a month and they had no idea how much money they made from insurance companies because their staff keeps records like that.  These guys had no medical practice other than doing IME's.  They testified daily in trials all over Florida.

I listened to that crap for a year or more and, finally, one plaintiff's lawyer filed a demand to see the records of one of the IME doctors for the last 3 years in order to see if he ever found that a plaintiff had a permanent injury and to find out just how much money insurance companies were paying him.  The insurance company objected on doctor/patient privilege grounds and I overruled the objection provided the doctor redacted the patient's name from each file.  Then the doctor objected because it would cost a fortune to copy all of the files.  I overruled that objection because the plaintiff's lawyer said he would deposit a reasonable amount of money with the clerk of the court to cover actual expenses.  My order recited that the information requested was relevant to show bias against plaintiffs due to the economic relationship the doctor had with insurance companies.  With that, the insurance company filed an appeal.  The District Court of Appeal affirmed my rulings.  Naturally, the doctor never produced his files because the case was immediately settled for the exact amount demanded by the plaintiff.  I was never told the amount.  But my ruling got statewide attention and iME doctors became less defense oriented. 

[deemery]

The only time I was on a jury was in Virginia.  Insurance company refused to settle in an auto accident, so plaintiff had to sue.  It was clear the actual defendant didn't want to be there and was very sorry for the accident which she admitted she caused.  In VA, plaintiff does not specify desired damages, but the lawyer did a great job laying down the plaintiff's medical costs, out-of-work costs, etc.  In the Jury Room, we agreed quickly the plaintiff made his case, we added up those costs and added $10k because the insurance company was being a real set of a-holes, and everyone made sure they got the name of the plaintiff's attorney, because he did such a good job.  :-)


dave

[GPdemayo]

The beast Bill refers to is shown below, on the left, along with its stable mates #3985 & #9000.....

[PRR Modeler]

Very nice Greg.

[Keep It Rusty]

That's a nice lineup! 

[GPdemayo]

Thanks Curt and Craig.....I've wanted one of these locos since I saw it in a PFM catalog a very long time ago.

It ran perfectly right out of the box and is smooth as silk at speed 1 with Tom's throttle.....and yes, I can run it slowly. It even ran up the Ovelix at speed 2 with a bunch of freight cars without a hiccup. I put it on the scale and it weighed in at close to 3-1/2 lbs.....it will be interesting to see how many cars the thing will pull.

[Judge]

Saturday Report - February 13, 2021 - Rainy day in Central Florida, the temperature at 10:15 a.m. is 73 degrees with a high today of 82 degrees.

Your reporter will not venture out to visit the A&S Railroad for several weeks.  Orthopedic surgery is scheduled for March 2 and recovery will probably take several weeks after that.  (Let me tell you about the "golden years."  They suck.  When I was young, the guys used to sit around talking about automobiles and women.  Now we talk about our medical problems.)

I recently read an article in the January 1969 edition of Railroad Magazine about a railroad town out West.  I thought it would be interesting to write about the railroad town on the Atlantic & Southern Railroad layout, named Tahope.  The name, by the way, is derived from the Seminole Indian name for "Fort."  There were two forts located in Central Florida during the Seminole Indian Wars, Fort Gatlin in Orlando and Fort Mellon in Sanford.  There are over 1000 cities, towns, counties, and geographic locations in Florida named after Seminole Indian words.  Osceola County and Wakulla County come to mind, along with Tallahassee, Kissimmee, and Thonotosassa.  Anyway, here is the whimsical description of Tahope, its economy, and some of its people.

                                                                                                       THE CITY OF TAHOPE

    The Atlantic & Southern Railroad is a three-tier layout.  The tiers area connected by an Ovalix.  The top tier is called "Summit."  The middle tier is called "The Midlands.  The lower tier is called "The Bottoms."   
     The City of Tahope is a railroad town and is located in The Midlands.  Anyone who looks toward the city from as far away as the St. Johns River Bridge would know it is a railroad town.  The dark pall of coal smoke drifting up to the sky, the roundhouse located at the end of the main street, and the steam engines coming and going from their journeys, all point to a town dependent on a railroad. Of course, the City is perpetually stuck in the years 1950-1951, so there are fewer Pacifics and Mikes in the roundhouse than there used to be due to the influx of diesel locomotives. 
   Other families besides railroaders live in Tahope.  Most of the "wimmins" who were born and raised in Tahope have first names derived from flowers or plants and last names of medieval occupations, such as Tanner, Carpenter, Miller, Wright and Tinker. 
   Job opportunities in Tahope, other than railroading are varied.  There are pulpwood workers who earn their living felling pine trees in Piney Woods, agricultural workers who work at the citrus processing plant and tend the orange groves, meat packers who work at Butts Meats, and bankers, merchants, clerks, office workers, and laborers.  There are a few professionals, such as the City's only physician, Dr. Minnie Staysic, and the town's only lawyer, Marvin Bello.
   A number of Tahope residents make their living from the St. Johns River by fishing or catching blue crabs.  They drive pick-up trucks with rebel flag license tags on the front and rifle racks on the rear window.  They hunt deer and rabbits when they are not fishing.
   The incomes of the people who live in Tahope depend largely upon the payroll received by the men in overalls and those in dark blue uniforms with brass buttons who work for the railroad.
   The fortunes of the inhabitants of the city rise and fall with the fortunes of the men of the railroad, from those who run the great steam engines to people like Tater Cartwright, who emerge from the roundhouse every evening with lunch baskets and wearing greasy overalls.
   The citizens of Tahope live in the segregated South in 1950.  But there are plenty of railroad jobs available to the colored residents.  Wille Washington, the roundhouse sweeper, walks out every day with his fellow workers when the quitting time whistle blows, feeling a certain pride at being a part of something of vital importance to his country and his community.  Sam Fuller, the Negro chef, puts his foot on the first step of the diner named Moultrie on the ACL Champion wearing his spic and span white jacket, ready for the trip to South Georgia or Miami.  He is one of many colored workers who ride the trains in as Pullman porters, kitchen help, brakemen, and firemen on the remaining steam locomotives.   
   Railroad towns have a certain feeling about them. In Tahope, the coal smoke that hangs low over the town causes the few visitors coming through town to wonder, when they see Petunia Tanner, wife of conductor Donald Tanner, hanging out her wash, why she washes her sheets so dirty.
   The city government of Tahope is housed in the new City Hall, which also houses the Courthouse.  The funding for building such a grand structure in little Tahope involved some backroom dealing, and eventually resulted in the indictment of the local senator, but Marvin Bello obtained a judgment of acquittal to the corruption charges and the senator was reelected. 
   The city government is not blameless for a certain amount of corruption.  The zoning ordinance is ignored more than it is enforced.  Nepotism is ignored. And the mayor, the members of the City Council, the police chief, and the local circuit judge play poker every Friday night in the Pullman Solarium Car which is spotted next to the freight house on the west side of town.  They conduct city business "out of the sunshine," which is lawful until the 1960s. 
   And, of course, there is an element of lawlessness among some of the railroaders, pulpwood workers, and town toughs, so the Tahope Police Department is responsible for law and order in the city.  The Police Chief, Timothy O'Shea, has been on the job for over 20 years and has a reputation for strict law enforcement. 
His police officer, Eldridge Poovey, has been with the department for 10 years.  Poovey recently moved in with his girlfriend, Rose Forester, who recently divorced her second husband, J. Pierpont Forester, the President of the Tahope State Bank.  That dalliance aside, Poovey is a well-respected LEO and is known by everyone in town.  Most of the criminal activity in Tahope involves thefts of A&S property, but fights and stabbings occur regularly on weekends at the Trackside Tavern.
        A source of irritation for the railroad is the dark, forbidding area known as The Bottoms.  This area is located under the Midlands and is a railroad yard.  The St. Johns River runs close by and hobos and bums are attracted to the area.  They keep the railroad police busy.   
   Some of the residents of Tahope catch the local train each morning and ride to the Sanlando Depot.  There, they either disembark and wait for one of the several passenger trains that come through or they remain seated and travel to work in Winter Park or Orlando. 
   All in all, the City of Tahope is much like any small, southern town in the 1950s.  Everybody knows everybody and everybody knows everybody else's business.  And the local orange blossom honey is in demand as far north as Boston.

[PRR Modeler]

Great story Bill.

[jrmueller]

Great job Judge.

[nycjeff]

Hello Your Honor, another great story !  I really look forward to your weekly reports. Thank you for the effort you are putting forth to entertain us. Hope that your back troubles ease up soon.   Jeff