Len and John, No, he is not the guy from UN. Bill Ryan at one time held first trick at Dover Tower (when I held the relief job at Dover) and then moved to 1st Trick at Denville Tower until he retired. Rich Len VanderJagt <lvj911_@_worldnet.att.net> wrote: Hi! Yes, Bill sounds right, but I don't remember him -- or I do but don't make the full association. Was he the guy with the Chihuahua? Used to hold second trick or the swing job at UN at one time earlier, and the dog peed on Mother Sipple's desk? Wow, I said that, huh? Very interesting memory on your part. Yes, that would have been '72 or 'early '73 that we had that chat. That was an interesting choice of words on my part, that I had forgotten I had used. Still hits the nail on the head. What was satisfying was getting the job done when dealing with the wires coming down and other crises. Of course, now I would probably simply experience anything like that as stress, rather than as exciting. Thank you so much for that recollection. So, what did I do? My then-wife and I hit the road in our Volkswagen bus/camper for a year, using all of that overtime money I saved (because nobody could get qualified at Summit) while I spent two years working seven days a week if I wanted to. (In addition to playing in the band four nights a week). I read a lot, thought a lot, went back to school, and seven years and is 3 degrees later had a Ph.D. in clinical psychology. Still in practice, but thinking about slowing down. I did find fulfillment as well as satisfaction, and am truly blessed by that. Of course, being on the railroad was more fun. 17 to 26 on and around the railroad was a blast I would not have traded for anything. Best, Len VanderJagt - ----- Original Message ----- From: To: "EL Mail List" Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 10:21 AM Subject: Re: (erielack) RE: I-80 crossovers east of Denville > Hello Len! > > It's been about 35 years since I talked to you last. You told me that > dispatching was "satisfying", but not "fulfilling", remember? I think you > left the EL altogether after that. Where'd you go? > > To answer your question, it was Ryan. I forget his first name. Bill > maybe? > > Thanks, > John Bobinyec > >> ----- Original Message ----- >> From: "Len VanderJagt" >> To: "EL Mail List" >> Subject: Re: (erielack) RE: I-80 crossovers east of Denville >> Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2007 10:11:49 -0500 >> >> >> Was the first trick towerman Jack Swenson? I think he had retired by >> then, as >> he originally hired out in 1913 if I recall correctly, and posted me up >> 1966. >> >> Len VanderJagt >> 1st trick Summit >> ----- Original Message ----- From: >> To: >> Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2007 7:21 AM >> Subject: (erielack) RE: I-80 crossovers east of Denville >> >> >> > >> > >> > I was an extra towerman during the summer of 1970. I first qualified >> > at >> > Dover with Rich Pennisi. During the middle of the summer I posted at >> > West >> > End. West End terrified me so much that I bid in third trick Denville >> > just >> > to get away from it. >> > >> > My favorite regular move at Denville was to cross #604 from track 1 >> > over to >> > track 2 on the M&E. It was basically the only time I had to use the >> > crossover from track 2 to track 2 M&E. 604 was about 11 cars long, and >> > occupied all three tracks at the same time. It also didn't stop at >> > Denville, >> > so it made the move at a good clip. >> > >> > At that time, track 2 (Boonton Branch) continued on through Denville >> > down to >> > Rainbow Lakes (just west of where the present Boonton Line crosses >> > Route >> > 46). There it ended and converged into track 1. Track 1 went through >> > Denville and on to Boonton. Track 3 started at Denville and then went >> > on to >> > Boonton as well. Here's a diagram: >> > http://72.148.42.113/EL/OldDenville.bmp >> > >> > One particular day train 1002 (or 1000, I forget which) was on the >> > bell. The >> > Boonton Drill hit the bell on track 3 at Rainbow Lakes. Normally, I'd >> > just >> > bring him up track 3 all the way to the tower, and then send him on his >> > way >> > to tie up at Dover. On this day, however, track 3 had cars stored on >> > it >> > just east of the tower. There was some time pressure, since the parade >> > was >> > about to start and trains would be coming down both tracks from Dover. >> > In >> > that case, the drill would have to tie up at Denville, which was just >> > NEVER >> > done. So I lined the drill up to track 1 at Rainbow Lakes. 1002 pulled >> > into >> > the station and made his station stop. The distant signal for Rainbow >> > Lakes >> > on track 2 was just a little way east of the tower. So the conductor, >> > seeing the approach signal, started yelling at me from the platform. >> > >> > At that time, things had just cleared up at Rainbow Lakes, so I lined >> > up >> > 1002. When I poked my head out of the window, the conductor commenced >> > yelling some more and waved his hand towards the distant signal, which >> > was >> > now at approach medium. So I said "WHAT?". He waved some more, looked >> > at >> > the signal, realized that he was all lined up, waved to the flagman, >> > and >> > away they went - a minute late because he had been standing around on >> > the >> > platform yelling at me. Just as 1002 started to pull, here comes the >> > drill >> > (lite), going by the tower up track 1, like a rocket, with the throttle >> > wide >> > open. What a sound those geeps could make. >> > >> > Anyway, I enjoyed that morning immensely. Even the first trick >> > towerman >> > couldn't ruin it. >> > >> > John Bobinyec >> > >> > >> > The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List >> > Sponsored by the ELH&TS >> > http://www.elhts.org >> > To Unsubscribe: http://lists.elhts.org/erielackunsub.html >> >> >> The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List >> Sponsored by the ELH&TS >> http://www.elhts.org >> To Unsubscribe: http://lists.elhts.org/erielackunsub.html > >> > > > The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List > Sponsored by the ELH&TS > http://www.elhts.org > To Unsubscribe: http://lists.elhts.org/erielackunsub.html The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List Sponsored by the ELH&TS http://www.elhts.org To Unsubscribe: http://lists.elhts.org/erielackunsub.html __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com The Erie Lackawanna Mailing List Sponsored by the ELH&TS http://www.elhts.org To Unsubscribe: http://lists.elhts.org/erielackunsub.html ------------------------------
This HTML page is © 2000-2009 Blue Moon Online System and The Railfan Network
This page and the data contained therein may not be reproduced
for any form of commercial use without the explicit permission
of J. Henry Priebe Jr. or his duly authorized agent.