Camp Cars

[NW Mailing List]

Thank you Gary. Cal Reynolds.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: NW Mailing List 
  To: NW Mailing List 
  Sent: Friday, January 04, 2008 12:21 PM
  Subject: Camp Cars


  This is a very touchy subject between supervision and contract employees and trust me, the radio interviews are pretty bias, In order not to ruffle management feathers, I will try to give you good and bad situations about our home away from home.

  The camp cars that I live in are 1971 trailers mounted to 1934 ex-Pennsylvania Flat cars, built for Amtrak, sold to Conrail,merged into NS. There is 8 men sleeping in each car with only two showers to share among them and one smaller than high-school locker to hang all your things in. We have three sinks to share, and we have to walk outside, (hot-cold-rain-shine) to use a portapotty.
   Jerry we get paid to work, not to use a out door john when its 0 degrees or 100 degrees, once we get of work our pay stops, we are on our own time while at the camp cars. There is nothing more miserable than waking up at 3 a.m  from a warm bed, getting dressed, putting on shoes and walking outdoors just to take a crap when the temperature is so cold that your butt freezes to the seat, or it is so hot that your are pouring the sweat and nauseous from the stench. If one employee brings in a cold chances are we all take it ourselves and carry it home with us. My car is right next to the generator car, so guess what I have to hear all night long. We all have TVS and DVD players, and Microwaves only because we bought them ourselves. Our floor is falling through and we've had a mice problem for several months now.
  The mattress that I sleep on is smaller than a the twin size mattress that my 9 year old daughter sleeps on, and my arms constantly hurt from sleeping in a coffin-like state. Basically, NS didn't start putting money into upgrades until somebody started complaining
   The good things about the cars is I personally love the Railroading community and fellowship, I have a free ticket into the heart of all the major railroad yards and facilities. I have set on my deck and watched ships be loaded at Lambert's point and I've watched the endless parade of trains from yards in Buffalo and Fort Wayne, but I love trains and choose it as my career, most guys are there just for a paycheck.
   Harry, they still place occasionally beside the main line, last year I was on the siding at Pearisburg, trying to sleep while trains passed my car at 50 mph just 6 feet from my window, one car off the track could wipe a whole gang out at those speeds, how may trains derail into hotels???
   Jimmy, yes we do receive three hot meals a day, it is deducted from our paychecks, and in all reality, what kind of foods do you cook for 40-men?? Potatoes and beans, chicken etc... and usually all greasy, and you have no choice over the menu,you either like it or you don;t, several guys still go out to fast food because of the quality of food, oh and by the way, we work from 7-5:30, we don't eat supper until  we get off of work and traditionally we pull overtime on Mon-Wed so if we work to 8-9 we have to go back and eat food that has set since 5. Most of the gangs that approve current conditions are Southern gangs that don't have to deal with the sub-freezing temperatures that we have to up here, just this week, I had a hot meal from lunch frozen almost instantly by the blustery wind that had Hopewell chilled on Wed and Thursday.
   Another good thing is once your there your there, and you can leave all you clothes, boots and supplies there, and not take them home every week like checking out of a hotel on Thursday. We work predominately in Nascar country so sometimes hotels can be sparse, and Ben Blevins can speak on experience on finding hotels in West Virginia to house his small gang in, as compared to the commute back and forth to the work site.

  Hope this helps understand that things need to be a lot better, I'm in favor of keeping the cars, BUT with major improvements, mainly indoor toiletries.

  Gary Price
  Keeping the ole N&W safe one tie at a time


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