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to friends on the erielack list & the LAURELLINE.......
I finally located something I've been looking for a long time. It isa
filled in application for employment as engine watchman at the DL&W
roundhouse in Conklin. I used to work as night hostler there in 1964 or so
and when there weren't any moves to be made, I'd explore. There were 2 huge
cupboards in the foremans office that were filled with this ancient
paperwork. Since much of it was spilling out onto the floor from time to
time, I took a few pieces. NOW, reading them, it's funny to reflect on the
wages - 57c per hour - and the working conditions - start and stop by the
blowing of the shop whistle. Kind of like Pavlovs dogs. Rather than type it
out, I've decided to send it as an attachment.
Working as night hostler in the 60s was nice (except in the winter).
The night foreman, Clarence Lavelle, lived in Conklin and was easy to get
along with as long as the moves were made properly. One problem was his
aversion to throwing anything away & this resulted in your getting somebody
elses old flashlight batteries when you turned your old ones in. That way,
Clarence didn't have to order anything from Scranton & it mad him look good
to the officials. This all came to a screeching halt when Mr. Moonshower
(Supt.) opened one of the closets to see boxes bursting with batteries which
had corroded and had eaten into the wood shelving, some of it fell out & got
on his suit. I was in Binghamton in 1998 & saw the roundhouse fenced off and
abandoned. I wondered if there's still rotting batteries falling off the
shelves in that silent building.
Regards,
Walter E. Smith
Employee #102156
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