When I got to Denville in 1976 or '77, one of the operators there, an EL man, was also on the Denville auxiliary police. He told me once, that he didn't let railfans in the tower, because they frequently were queer. He was married; and had a lover, the sergeant on the Denville auxiliary police, who was also married. Then the operator threw the sergeant over, for a kid. The guy who told me the story, Charley Smith, saw the kid in Denville tower once, and said that he was a big guy. The sergeant retaliated for being thrown over, by kicking the operator off the auxiliary police force. The the kid got even by making obscene phone calls to the sergeants' wife - from the phone in Denville tower. The sergeants' had the calls traced. The Conrail police spotted the kid in the tower, and told the operator to keep kids out. Then another day, they spotted the kid going in again; and went in after him. His coat was there; but not the kid. While they were trying to figure that out, they heard a sneeze inside the interlocking machine. They ripped the cover off the machine; the kid came out; and that was Russ's last day on the railroad. His brother Ray, was also an operator at Denville; and also on the Denville auxiliary police. He was eventually disqualified as an operator, for having beer in the tower; and was a station cleaner in Summit when I got my present job in Morristown. He retired around 1995. Philip Martin martinpl3_@_earthlink.net ------------------------------
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