Glad to see you here Dusty. My Dad came from a time when there were a lot more trains, a lot more track, and full crews to run them. He was a real believer in "6 eyes on the windshield" which was possible back then. He died before the railroads had been reduced to the minimalistic standards of today. He would have hated this.

But he too had some great tales of things that went on in the cab and on the job in general. I'll not tell those here but I promised Alan another trip story so here goes. Dad was known as a "Smooth Rider" meaning he gave the caboose guys a smooth ride which was no easy feat. If you figure that 100 cars can easily vary 100 feet or more in length depending on slack, then knowing how to move that train and knowing the road can make a big difference to those guys on the rear end not to mention the equipment...like pulling drawbars. It is the "knowing the road" part that my story is about.

Maybe about a month before he died we were talking in his bedroom one day about his job. He knew that he'd never make another run but in that way we all want to deny what is coming, I went on as if he were going back to work in a few weeks. He talked about the younger new hires not knowing the road and not learning it as he thought they should so I asked him about it in depth. "The Road" was the 200 or so miles of track from the Columbus Yards to the yards outside of Pittsburgh, Pitcairn and Conway. And so began the strangest but most interesting trip I ever took and I never left the bedroom.

He began by describing the series of tracks, switches, and signals, leading out of the Buckeye Yard to East Columbus and then describing the grade out to Summit Station. He included track condition, speed limits, crossings, switches and sidings, block signals, etc.......and because I was generally familiar with the area, it was easy to visualize. He continued on through Heath and the dangerous crossings at the oil refineries there and then down through "52 Cut" at Riverside, through Dennison, Jewett, Mingo Junction across the Ohio River and on into the Conway Yards. This journey took about an hour and a half but we well covered the miles that took 8 to 12 in real time.

I think that was the first time I ever recognized just how smart the Ol' Man was. I had often heard about someone knowing something as well as the back of their hand but this was the first time I saw that in action.......and out of my Dad. I've never forgotten that trip and after over 30 years I still miss him.....W.J. "Unk" Patterson, Engineman on the Pennsylvania Rail Road from 1937-1973.

Spaw