Conductor Burnett's Train Book for April 3-4, 1927

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

I am very fortunate to have two of the "Train Books" kept by my Grandfather, 
Abram D. Burnett, who was in train service on the Radford Division 1909-1935.  
(He was promoted to Conductor in 1916.)  The books are from 1926 and 1927, 
and give some snapshots of what typical runs were like during those years. I 
thought the Listers might enjoy a few glimpses from those books, so will send 
several abstracts to the List over the next several days.

These books were designed to fit into the hip pocket (4 1/2" wide, 9 1/2" 
tall) and were made of cheap paper with cardboard covers and a canvas binding.  
Officially designated "C.R. 38, Conductor's Train Book," they were designed to 
be a log book for the movement of each train (crew names, engine numbers, cars 
handled, times at various stations, and even a "Weather Report.")  They were 
maintained faithfully by every conductor, even in my time (1960s-1970s,) and 
are still in use on the NS.

Since the books carry a "CR" (Car Record) form number, it is obvious that 
they were originally designed to log information about car movements.  In the 
1920s, for every car in all his trains, Grandfather recorded car initial and 
number, type of car, contents, station he moved it from and station he moved it 
to, and station to which billed.  By my time on the N&W, conductors were no 
longer recording individual car numbers, but were rather using the books as an 
"event log" for their runs.

The Comp'ny's "Instructions" in front of the book said:  

"1.  Conductors will make record in their train books for each train handled 
by the, filling in all information called for therein except as shown below:  
(a) Light weight of car and weight of contents of car will only be shown for 
cars picked up between terminals, (b) Record of seals (both sides and end 
doors) will only be made for loads set off and picked up at non-agency points and 
for loads on which seals is broken or door found open.

"2.  Conductors should make record in their train books of occurrences such 
as derailments, break-in-twos, etc, and will indicate individual cars in 
connection with which any loss or damage to lading may be observed.

"3.  Conductors will number their train books consecutively in space provided 
above and send them to Trainmaster's Office for filing when they are filled."

Yeah, you bet !   All observed more in the breech than in the keeping, I am 
sure !

In my time on the N&W, the Radford, Shenandoah and Norfolk Division men 
considered their books their personal property and took them home when filled up.  
The Pokie men must have lived in a separate world, as I can recall seeing 
mountains of the books stored in the Bluefield Crew Register Room, where men had 
obviously "turned them in" when they were full.  My Grandmother told me that 
the entire top shelf in my Grandfather's closet was full of completed books.  
("What happened to all the others, Grandmother?")

The blank end pages of the books are full of all kinds of cryptic writings, 
mostly numbers.  In some cases Grandfather was adding and subtracting tonnages 
when pick ups and set off were made.  In other cases he was jotting down car 
numbers for some purpose.  In a couple of cases it appears that he was 
calculating his wages.

So, here come a few snapshots from the past...  But I'll warn you that 
Grandfather was not a meticulous record keeper, and some of the "blanks" inspire 
questions which simply cannot be answered, lo, these 80 years later.

-- abram burnett

========================================================
April 3, 1927.  Ex 1715 West, Roanoke to Bluefield.  Reported 4:30am.  105 
cars.

Eng 1715 Roanoke to Bluefield, Engineman R L Johnson, Fireman C W Ryan.  Eng 
441 Elliston to Christiansburg, Engineman S R Lloyd, Fireman Moore.  Eng 391 
Blake to Bluefield.  Conductor ADB, Flagman Wade, Head End Brakeman G R Bryant.

Doubled 10 to 7 [at Park Street Yard, Roanoke.]  
WB 5:20am.  
Elliston 6:30am - 6:40am.  
Christiansburg 8:00am - 8:12am.  
Vicker 8:20am - 8:35am.  
Wills 10:15am to --- [not recorded]  
Ada 11:00am - 11:20am.  
Arrived Bluefield 12:50pm.

=======================================================

April 4, 1927.  Ex 1715 East, Bluefield to Roanoke.  Same crew as trip of 
4/3.  81 loads of miscellaneous (i.e. not "Tidewater") coal and coke.

Reported 12:35am, departed Bluefield 1:05am.  
Ada 1:35am - 1:45am.  
Eggleston 3:45 - 3:55am.  
Walton 4:40am - 5:25am.

Helper Eng 1718 Pepper to Christiansburg, Engineman J J Wright, no Fireman's 
name listed.

21st car N&W 8229 set off at Walton, CT-23 left at Christiansburg.

Arrival time at Roanoke not shown.
=======================================================
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/private/nw-mailing-list/attachments/20050316/c5590a5e/attachment.html