Post by SSW9389 on Aug 2, 2007 20:09:48 GMT -5
If you are on Trainorders.com, Railspot or the Cotton Belt Yahoo list you have likely already seen this. It's from Chapter Seven of Cotton Belt Engineer The Life and Times of C. W. "Red" Standefer 1898-1981. Standefer worked for the Cotton Belt from 1917 to 1967 and retired as the #1 engineer on the Southern Division of the Cotton Belt.
The following excerpt was written from a conductor's time book found in the Commerce Public Library:
"While all this modernization was going on with new push button railroading and diesels placing the iron horse out to pasture, Red Standefer was saying goodbye to the steam locomotive. On Tuesday July 1, 1952 train #217’s crew was Conductor W. H. Taylor, Engineer C. W. Standefer, Fireman D. B. Cates, Brakeman D. C. Abernathy, and Brakeman R. L. Killingsworth. This crew started making up their train in Commerce Yard at 9:45 PM. They had the #254 an F1 Ten Wheeler for power and they were at it switching for four hours. The crew then took a 25 minute meal break at 1:45 in the morning and then went back to switching cars in Commerce Yard for another hour and ten minutes. At 3:25 AM the #217 train was together and the air was being tested. The #217 highballed sometime later with the caboose #2301 bringing up the markers. The train starts switching Wolfe City milepost 550 at 4:35 AM for 10 minutes. Later at Randolph milepost 564 the train takes another 10 minutes taking water starting at 5:50 AM. The #217 train has a set out at Whitewright at 6:35 AM that takes 10 minutes and then the crew takes breakfast for another half hour. Then the #217 is off and away for Sherman where it arrives at 8:30 AM does some switching around the yard and then the #254 is put away and the crew went off duty at 9:15 AM Wednesday morning.
The return run as train #218 on Wednesday evening begins at 6:30 PM. The same crew is on the job. No details are given to any intermediate switching and the train arrives in Commerce at 10:30 PM. The crew promptly goes to beans upon arrival and a half hour later the crew commenced switching in Commerce Yard until going off duty at 1:45 AM. "
The following excerpt was written from a conductor's time book found in the Commerce Public Library:
"While all this modernization was going on with new push button railroading and diesels placing the iron horse out to pasture, Red Standefer was saying goodbye to the steam locomotive. On Tuesday July 1, 1952 train #217’s crew was Conductor W. H. Taylor, Engineer C. W. Standefer, Fireman D. B. Cates, Brakeman D. C. Abernathy, and Brakeman R. L. Killingsworth. This crew started making up their train in Commerce Yard at 9:45 PM. They had the #254 an F1 Ten Wheeler for power and they were at it switching for four hours. The crew then took a 25 minute meal break at 1:45 in the morning and then went back to switching cars in Commerce Yard for another hour and ten minutes. At 3:25 AM the #217 train was together and the air was being tested. The #217 highballed sometime later with the caboose #2301 bringing up the markers. The train starts switching Wolfe City milepost 550 at 4:35 AM for 10 minutes. Later at Randolph milepost 564 the train takes another 10 minutes taking water starting at 5:50 AM. The #217 train has a set out at Whitewright at 6:35 AM that takes 10 minutes and then the crew takes breakfast for another half hour. Then the #217 is off and away for Sherman where it arrives at 8:30 AM does some switching around the yard and then the #254 is put away and the crew went off duty at 9:15 AM Wednesday morning.
The return run as train #218 on Wednesday evening begins at 6:30 PM. The same crew is on the job. No details are given to any intermediate switching and the train arrives in Commerce at 10:30 PM. The crew promptly goes to beans upon arrival and a half hour later the crew commenced switching in Commerce Yard until going off duty at 1:45 AM. "
