taking 20 with the Brethren (reprise)

[NW Mailing List]

Skip:

How do you come up with zingers week after week? How come you're not
on TV or in night clubs getting paid to do this?

Some people just have the gift and Skipper, you've got it.

rsc

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>

> Message: 4

> Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2010 08:21:38 -0400

> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Subject: "Takin' Twenty" with the Virginian Brethren by Skip Salmon

> To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Message-ID: <4C10D8D2.3050709 at vt.edu>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

>

> Last night I had the pleasure of "Takin' Twenty with eight of the

> Brethren and Friends of the Virginian Railway. Landon Gregory told the

> Brethren about dispatcher Charlie Miller taking the west bound this

> week. Landon said that Charlie was the type of guy who kept everyone in

> the office in a good mood and enjoyed playing practical jokes. The

> standard procedure was to keep a blank CT-114 train order form in the

> typewriter so when an order needed to be taken, it could be typed up

> quickly. Landon relieved Charlie one night and after typing the first

> line of an order he saw "dummy can't you see this message has been used

> already"? I showed the Brethren a "snippet" from last Monday's "The

> Roanoke Times from 100 years ago today": "Both the Norfolk & Western and

> Virginian railroads have been installing a telephone system on their

> lines and it looks as if eventually this method of handling trains will

> largely, if not altogether supersede telegraph."

>

> The ebay report this week includes the sale of a Virginian Railway

> spittoon for $385.00. I appreciate the feedback last week from Steve

> Smith concerning the VGN lantern that sold for $374.00 with "VIRGINIAN"

> on the tall globe, that I dubbed "bargain of the week", but did NOT read

> the fine print. Steve notified ebay and the buyer about this lantern

> that had no other VGN markings and the globe was a reproduction like one

> that he had purchased before. This is a lesson from the old "if it seems

> too good to be true, it just might not be" school. So, beware and

> investigate before purchasing VGN artifacts that may be fakes...

>

> The Jewel from the Past is like one in George Washington Inge's ("Slick"

> Inge's father who was a trainman on VGN #3 very early) Illinois is from

> November 18, 2004: "Russell 'Slick' Inge told the story of a crew on a

> west bound, 'Froggy' Williams, Jack Ellis and Tom Elswich who had a meet

> at Kumis. While they were waiting, they took advantage of a crop of

> sweet corn near the track and 'helped themselves to several ears' (Slick

> later said it was several Piggly Wiggly bags full). Upon arriving at

> Princeton, they got a red board. Superintendent Berkley Mills personally

> greeted them with 'you can pay the man for his corn or go home and look

> for another job'".

>

> Passed around was the July "Trains" with articles about the "world's

> largest Yard", UP's Berkley Yard in North Platte, Nebraska and a Fred

> Frailey editorial "Does a bleak future await the coal-hauling

> railroads?". Fred states that "new Federal regulations on coal- burning

> power plants will reduce their need for coal by 30%. NS stands to lose

> more than $500 million in revenue". I hope this Fred is wrong but who

> would have "thunk" cabooses would be replaced by another "Fred"?

>

> I brought several photos purchased last week of Virginian locos, steam

> and diesel. One showed a brand new Trainmaster sporting number "808"

> (last three numbers in her serial number) while being tested on the

> Milwaukee Road before delivery to VGN. Jeff Sanders brought a nice

> framed photo of a VGN H-3A, 1913 built, 55 ton hopper with "war-time"

> markings including a "Buy Bonds" logo.

>

> I told the Brethren about the recent discussion on this site about "coal

> crappers or croppers". Wis Sowder and Glen McLain told us that even

> though their job title was "call boy" they did coal "cropping" every

> winter. The call boys were responsible for "releasing" enough lump coal

> every day for the stove in the yard office. None of the Brethren ever

> heard the term "coal cropper or crapper".

>

> Our Joke man Glen McLain brought this story: A man boarded an airplane

> in New Orleans, with a box of soft-shell crabs. A female crew member

> took the box and promised to put it in the crew's refrigerator for the

> flight. Shortly before landing in New York, she announced to the entire

> cabin, "Would the gentleman who gave me the crabs in New Orleans, please

> raise your hand?". Not one hand went up...so she took them home and ate

> them herself!

>

> Time to pull the pin on this one!

>

> Departing Now from V248,

>

> Skip Salmon