"19 Train Orders.

[nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org]

As Harry Bundy put it, "it takes a little bit of talent to hand up "19"
orders on
the fly."  In my career, I have been on  both ends of a train order hoop.
On the ACL I grabbed them on the fly on the headend as a fireman. They
used the oval or  up the arm train order hoop in which case you threw off
a hoop to the operator just before you grabbed his. you haven't lived until
you pick up an order at night on an R-1 1800 steam locomotive by stepping
down to the upper step in the gangway and while holding on to the grab iron on
the cab with one arm while you zero in on grabbing the train order hoop with
the other arm.  You only get one shot at  grabbing the train order.  On the
Southern Railway I was an operator and delivered train orders for 18 years.
We usd the "string  delivery" system which I much prefer to the oval train
order hoop.  Which reminds me....  who was the ustupid idiot who started
that garbage about Southern Railway always running long hood forward?
Why does that jerk not understand why Southern used high hood units in
the first place?  Because it was a simple matter of coupling locomotive units
together no matter which way they were  headed into a lash-up without
having to go through the expensive and time-consuming routine of turning
the unit either on a turntable or a wye.   If that clown knew how many times
I have gotten on the radio to ask an engineer, "which side are you on" for
purposes of handing up train orders or waybills.   That idiotic statement was
usually made by some not dry behind the ears know-it-all railfan who thinks
he  is another David P. Morgan. I remember seeing a feature in Trains
magazine about Southern Railway in eastern  North Carolina.  There were
three photos of trains, and in  EVERYONE of the photos the locomotives
were running short hood forward.  You would think the know-it-alls would
at least pay attention to t6he hundreds of photos just like those that have
appeared in print.  Bill Sellers