Green Board to the President

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

Date: Tue, 8 Feb 2005 11:24:18 EST 
To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org 
From: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Subject:  John Palmer Fishwick 

Adm. Scheer:

I didn't know that Mr. Fishwick has an office in the
Franklin Road Building.  The Property Protection
people are pretty particular about who they'll let in.
 I tried getting in at the offices in Norfolk
and was turned away, so I haven't tried Franklin Road.
 
That he still has an office probably isn't out of
line.  After all,  in retirement, Mr. Pevler had an
office in the Hotel Roanoke -- and a full time steno. 
The last time I saw JPF was at the dinner
commemorating the railroad's entry into Roanoke in
1853 (?).  He was the speaker.  I don't know how he's
using his time these days.
 
True, he and Blair lived in the penthouse at the
hotel.  When Palmer (his daughter) was married, there
was a big reception on the hotel lawn.  I suspect that
Hank Kinzell, Supt. of Roanoke Term., had instructions
not to send any smoke-belching Alcos past the
passenger station.  Blair died and circa 1990 Mr.
Fishwick married the former General Manager of the
hotel.  Before that, I once ran into him in the
supermarket, so apparently he did his own
grocery shopping.   You know, of course, that his
commute to work became a discussion item.  In the N&W
Magazine, he'd introduced an answer the question
segment know as "Green Board to the President".  After
the blizzards of 1976, an employee wrote in wanting to
know why, on snow days, the supervisory personnel got
paid, but the union employees didn't.  Mr. Fishwick
responded that every one should make an honest effort
to report to work.  During inclement weather he walked
to work.  That said, N&W coulda done a whole lot
worse.  Just look at NS's competitor.    To get to a
"Skins" game,  CSX dead
headed their business car train Jax-Richmond so the
hierarchy didn't travel I-95 like John Q. Public.

Harry Bundy


February 9, 2005

My last visit to 110 Franklin Road was a year ago this
month.  I noted a sign in the parking lot, "Reserved
for Mr. Fishwick."  The space was empty as I was
prowling around for a place to park, eventually
leaving my car along the curb a block away.  I assumed
that a sign outside indicated a desk inside.

I hadn't though about the "Green Board to the
President" in a l-o-n-g time.  While I was at Decatur,
the wife of a trainmaster wrote complaining that her
husband was never home and that supervisory
responsibilities interfered with their spartan home
life.  I don't think she told her husband before she
wrote.  I also don't think the note was published and
suspect he didn't have to worry about a railroad
career after that.

When I was working as an assistant to trainmaster
--the entry level job after the Operations Training
Program, before appointment as an assistant
trainmaster-- in 1975, the
assistant-to/assistant/trainmaster and road foreman of
engines all worked with one day off every other week
--and not necessarily a weekend day at that.  There
was also a general expectation that even on your day
off, one would drop by without a tie on and spend a
half day checking on correspondence or office matters
that one never had time for when on the road.

However, the time on duty wasn't not too bad despite
averaging 12 hours daily.  There was a unit train of
auto parts boxcars called the "Fast Ford" which ran
from Detroit to Kansas City via Decatur and Moberly. 
NW management dictated that on every train, a
supervisor would ride over each district.  I picked up
that assignment frequently.  Since everything went in
the hole for that train, the only operational problem
was an occasional air hose or knuckle, usually going
over the "hog-backs" near Bluffs, Illinois, with a
less-experienced engineer.  This was because with the
cushioned drawbars, it was harder to control slack
run-in and run-out while the train was in two or three
hills and valleys simultaneously.  I'd drop off at
Outer Depot in Hannibal and someone from the Moberly
Division covered the Missouri segment.

Regarding snow, there was more than once when an
engine or train crew stated they couldn't get from
their home to work.  I'd end up driving a Chevy
Suburban (that was perpetually running on empty with
the low oil light on) to fetch them.  Basically, it
worked out to a few taxi service for the employees. 
They had nothing to lose in doing so; if you couldn't
get them --which never happened for me-- it proved
their point.  If you did get them, they willingly went
and avoided fuel, wear and tear, or possible damage to
their own vehicle.

Anyway, Harry, thanks for the additional insights. 
What do you recall about R. F. "Dick" Dunlap?  His
office was plastered with every conceivable graph that
Paul Zeiss could conceive.  Hearsay was that they were
even posted in his private bathroom.

Later,

Guppy Scheer

=====
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Railway Mail Service Library, Inc.
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