Cy's Two

By Cy Martin

For suggestion or comments contact Cy Martin via E-Mail

The following is a paragraph from Joyce Gibson Roach's column in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Sunday April 20:
"An item in The Community Standard newspaper reporting from Roanoke in 1933 Read: "A fair-sized crowd of people were at the depot at 9:30 Monday morning to see the new T&P two-car motor train on its test trip from Fort Worth to Texakana. It is said that this train made about 70[MPH] between stops, and no one who was at the station when it passed expressed any doubt about the high speed. The train takes the place of the steam trains now going north at 8:15am and returning at 9:30pm."
Former T&P Master Mechanic Claude Camp told me he supervised the scrapping of these cars at Bonham after they proved unsuccessful.
There is a picture of this train on Page 209 in the Texas and Pacific book by Watson and Brown.
Dennis Hogan of Irving adds: "This Michelin railcar set, named "The Silver Slipper" is one of my pet research projects. I have a brochure on it, copies of a Railway Age article, and know where some photies are. What I don't have are reports about it once it came to Texas."

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An engineer on one of our competing carriers says railroading is he only job he knows of where they spend $50,000 to train you and then constantly try to fire you.
He adds, "I know of one student engineer last year that was caught standing on a public road waiting for the relief van without his saftey glasses. He got 15 days, deferred so he could complete his training and take his tests.
After the man passed his exams with flying colors it was, "Congratulations, you are now an engineer. Oh, by the way, you are fired."
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Philip Mason is one of our Canadian Railroad Brothers. Someone on the internet asked why some box cars are labeled "Canadian National" on one side, and Canadien National is on the other side. It was explained that parts of Canada are French Speaking.
Brother Mason tells us that the BLE is called the FIL or "Fraternite de Ingineurs des Locomotives." He explains that he is called the "Mechanicien" in Quebec.
The UTU is called the TUT, or "Travailleurs Unie des Transports". The Conductor is called the "chef du train" and adds, "Some of them are good cooks."
Philip's email address is .
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There is word out that some of the carriers want to increaase the legal Hours of Service from the present 12-hours back up to 14-hours. One carrier is said to have told a union representative that such an increase would give people more time at home.
What a mathmetical genius! More is less! Using that reasoning, moving it up to 16-hours would give us even more time at home.
Hey, why stop at 16-hours. They'd have us thinking 20-hours on duty would give us even more rest, relaxation and quality time with our families.
Are we to suppose then, that a 24-hour workday would allow us to spend all our time at home?
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Baited Breath ---
What you get from eating sushi.
Cy is a locomotive engineer at Fort Worth

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