(erielack) Begining of the end.

["Dlw1el2_@_aol.com"]

The last week of Conrail is starting to bring the Harsh reality of next week 
in to perspective. Workers here in North Jersey have started to say there 
good buys to each other last weekend. With the horrible three way split, guys 
you have worked with your whole career are going to different Railroads. 
Individuals are working for the last time this week over sections of Railroad 
they have seen most, or part of there Railroad career, but as of Tuesday will 
never work over again. Almost every one is having two-thirds of there 
seniority district taken away from them. Those going with Shared Assets may 
again someday work with former fellow workers because of the once a year 5% 
flow back, that will carry through for six years. Those going to NS and CSX 
will never work together again, and are essentially locked in to there 
choice.  A choice that everyone nervously debated long and hard over.  The 
amount of information that we where given to make these very, very important 
choices was slim to none. Many older employees chose Shared Assets simple 
because they wanted to see how the other two roads faired for the first year 
or two, or they wanted to avoid the dreaded NS.  The job assignments have 
absolutely no built in guarantees, and could change on day two drastically.  
CSX could decide to hub ALL its road crews out of Selkirk.  NS could do the 
same out of Harrisburg.  As for the Southern Tier, every end of the spectrum 
in rumors has been touched.  All the big money is going into the Harrisburg 
route, so what's left overs will straggle in via the Southern Tier, and where 
the crews will be stationed, is again a big open expanse of anxiety.  What we 
where told at Union meetings before we had to make our decisions, already 
appears to be changing. Those going to the NS Nickel Plate side (Southern 
Tier) still don't even have an agreement book.

I won't even touch the Time Card situation, or the job symbols, or the book 
of rules situations etc, etc.  What I will tell you emphatically is all three 
railroads will be extremely short crews, and especially crews qualified in 
certain specific areas outside the yards. Customers on NJT are in for a rude 
awakening. I will not say there is going to be a melt down like what happened 
on the UP, stemming out of one yard in Texas. Everyone from the two CEOs two 
the lowest none agreement worker on both the NS and CSX will be striving to 
see that it will  never happen, and thus the odds of it are really slim.  
What I will tell you is that if it does, it will stem from right here in the 
North Jersey Consolidated terminal area.  An extremely complicated network, 
that has been a daily struggle for Conrail to keep together from day to day, 
for twenty some years.  There are so many pieces in the puzzle, and thus so 
many potential break downs. Looking back I am amazed it has been held 
together as well as it has.  It took an awful lot of people all working for 
the SAME company 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to keep it there.  That's 
where I can't see how three different company's, two of which are very 
competitive (enemies ), are going to be able to do, what one had so much 
trouble with.

Am I naive, or a realest?  I guess only time will tell?  

How well I remember the evening of March 31, 1976 as I stood by myself, and 
watched  ES99 pull through Lake Jct, and its marker disappear up the new 
connection for the last time. My bowling team was loosing four games without 
me that evening, and I felt I was loosing a large part of my Railfaning world.

18 months later my whole life started revolving around what I thought I was 
loosing that evening. Big Blue started to giving me a pay check, and never 
allowed me to bowl again. I have learned that change is the only constant 
that can always be associated with the Railroad industry. No matter what the 
year, Its good that Railfans are there to record it on film today, for it 
will surly be different tomorrow. What I have yet to decide is whether 
tomorrow's changes as an employee, can hold any of the positive give and 
takes that Conrail has presented Railfans over the past twenty-three years, 
and right now I am having serious doubts.  

Nervous energy just being transposed through the finger.

Bob

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