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Re: Re:Re: (erielack) RAILROAD MAGAZINE HAYWIRE MAC
Randy,
Since u were so kind as to include me with the likes of Art erdman.(whose
stories I've followed in the DIAMOND) I tried to think of an anecdote from the
EL of the 1960s......Here goes........
One of my favorite jobs in Binghamton was the Homer local. This job worked
whatever was to be done after crossing the Chenango River bridge on the way
North. Sometimes a setoff in Marathon, seldom anything at Chenango Forks where
we left CTC and were in trainorder territory all the way to Cortland. I very
seldom caught it since I was low in seniority and the regular fireman didn't
mark off too much. The regulars were Norm Orcutt(chewtobacco) /engineer, Joe
Foley (tough old Irishman)/conductor, Bill Smith/Flagman & I can't think of the
head brakeman. These guys OWNED the job. They had a regularly assigned KV
caboose & well-stocked fridge in it. Norm usually ran to Cortland where he'd
take a break & have me do all the switching work. During the lunchbreak, a
railfan got on the engine & took our orders for whatever (his treat) & we let
him ride the engine as a reward. He'd been taking fotos of the DL&W here siince
the early 1940sand he gave me some of his steam pictures several times. Old man
Orcutt told me the guy always gave him copies of the pictures and that he had 'a
shoebox full' of them. I wonder where those are now. I've never seen any fotos
labelled 'The Orcutt collection'. After lunch, we'd take our train to Homer
where there might be some work and wait at the station siding for BS51 to blast
through. After they went by, we'd run around the train & head for the Sealtest
creamery where we'd re-enact a once widespread function of the railroads all
over this part of the state. In the siding at the Sealtest plant, sat a
piggyback flatcar with 2 refrigerated trailers loaded with milk for Hoboken. My
part in this was to go into the plant and get a bunch of halfpint milk cartons.
While I did this, the piggyback was coupled right in back of the engine & the
train made solid. Mr. Foley meanwhile had gone to the phonebox and advised the
dispatcher that we were ready to head South. We were given the railroad and
approaching Chenango Forks saw a Clear signal at the beginning of the CTC. Upon
arrival at Binghamton, we cut the piggyback off the train & were lined up by
'BD' cabin onto the former DL&W where the E-8s of the Phoebe Snow had already
cutoff their train & pulled by giving us room to come out & drop off the milk
car. After we cleared up, the roadpower coupled up & shoved the milkcar back to
their train where the carknockers quickly prepared #2 for leaving town. I've
described these final moves as well as I can at this late date, and I don't
think the passenger drill was involved in this move. Just us and the roadpower.
It went off every day like clockwork until the end of the milk business (and the
end of #2 as well). I wish there were some guys around who perhaps worked this
job more than me, but I think most of them are long gone so I do the best I can.
Now for some 'fun'. As I said, the crew on the Homer job OWNED it and
nobody, especially Joe Foley, wanted outsiders there. I happened to be firing
one summer when the regular fireman was on vacation and Mr. Orcutt was off too.
The replacement engineer was an older man named Jim Buckley who went back to the
steamengine days on the DL&W. Foley regarded him as THE ENEMY and argued on the
radio about the switching moves in Cortland and Homer, but the real fun began
when we pulled out of Homer headed South. We had 12 or 14 cars and the piggyback
but for some reason the train began to slow down. Mr. Buckley advanced the
throttle until the Geep was wide open. I looked back for any dragging brakes but
suddenly the train took off. Mr. Buckley began notching back on the throttle and
as he did, the train slowed to a crawl. For those of you familiar with
airbrakes, you may have guessed that Joe Foley was bleeding air off in the
caboose just enough to slow the train & when Jim Buckley opened the throttle to
overcome the drag, Foley would close the caboose valve and the train would take
off. After a few times of this yo-yo effect, Buckley stopped the train & Foley
came forward to ask 'What the Hell you are doing, delaying this train?'. You
have to realize both these guys were in their 60s and were yelling and cursing
at each other while the headman & I tried to ignore it. All this of course
occurred before getting to the CTC at Chenango Forks where the dispatcher might
notice and inquire about the problem. Finally Norm Orcutt came back off vacation
and all the brake problems disappeared. Foley went on & on & finally had a
run-in with Sammy Miller & took a swing at him in the caboose in Cortland. Foley
was put off the train & had to ride the Greyhound bus back to Binghamton. He got
a year off at the hearing for smacking Sammy & after getting back to work, took
the pension.
Regards to all,
Walter E. Smith
________________________________
From: Janet & Randy Brown <jananran_@_mymailstation.com>
To: erielack_@_lists.railfan.net
Sent: Sun, August 29, 2010 9:03:17 AM
Subject: Re:Re:Re: (erielack) RAILROAD MAGAZINE HAYWIRE MAC
Bedwell and McKlintock were but two of the more prolific writers, Bedwell mostly
in fiction but McKlintock in fact and, as "Haywire Mac", in fiction. They and
others performed for us, in the 1930s and '40s, the same function that Art
Erdman and Walter Smith do today (list content?).
Working from their experiences in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as real
railroaders, they crafted accounts which took their readers into the world of
real, nitty-gritty railroading -- dozens of times. They are still good reading,
if you can find them, and you can find them if you try.
They are gone now; all we have left is their stories. The same is not true of
many Erie, Lackawanna and, especially, EL veterans. Please make an effort, when
y'all meet one, to get him to talk (usually not a problem) and record what he
says (usually not easy). Video it or tape it or shorthand it or longhand it --
but get it! If you can get him to write it, so much the better.
Randy Brown
- --------------------------------------------------------------
Don't think my point or the original posters was to re-write history, for I'm
still digging up facts on both of these two interesting people, but thanks for
the correction(s), I did note that they were two distinct people ,but I was
totally off on the Haywire Mac references. McClintock did have one story
published in Railroad magazine in 1957. I was also surprised to see that he
also wrote "Hallelujah I'm a bum" and appeared as a extra in Gene Autry
movies and had a radio show. He was certainly an interesting character!
Regards:
Rich Onorevole
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