PC: Track stories

[Jerry Jordak <jer@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here's a story for all you from the PC era. This comes from my friend
John Webster, who had an opportunity to have a cab ride on a PC local
the day after Thanksgiving 1972. The train was switching industries
along the ex-NYC lakefront main in Cleveland, Ohio. Two highlights
of the day:

First, the engineer let John operate the locomotive as they ran down
the industrial lead than ran from Collinwood Yard down towards E 55th
St. As they were going along, John sees a gap in one of the rails,
probably about 2 feet long. As he instinctively puts on the brake, the
engineer reaches over, removes John's hand from the brake lever, shuts
off the brakes, and pushes the throttle up to Run 8. Bump-bump,
bump-bump, and the locomotive bounces over (through?) the gap in the
rail.

Next, they were switching an industry, and they came up to a place where
the track disappeared into a large puddle (John's term was "pond"). 
Being November in Cleveland, it was cold, and the top of the water was
frozen. Two tracks came out of the far side of the "pond." The
engineer pulled the locmotive up to the edge of the water and stopped.
They then saw a turnout rise out of the water. The brakeman got off the
locomotive, threw the turnout, and the engine continued on, with the
turnout sinking back into the depths after the train passed.

Just goes to show how bad track conditions were on the PC in the 1970's.
Anybody else have any "horror stories" about deferred maintenance from
then?

Later,
-Jer

-- 
Jerry W. Jordak               The boxcars and flatbeds, whistle blowin' steam
mailto:jer@smellycat.com      That was yesterday
http://prozac.cwru.edu/jer/   Now those big trains don't come anymore
Acts 16:31   <><                  -- Restless Heart, "Big Iron Horses"