by Dennis Wilmot
"Nixon Resigns!" This was the headline in the New York Times on Friday, August 9, 1974. Monday of that week I began my railroad career. Fifty years ago! What was it like then?
The Newburgh and South Shore Railroad (NSR) was one of many shortlines then owned by United States Steel. It served several plant locations plus other industries such as Alcoa and other shippers of lumber, metals, chemicals, and other products. Marcelline Yard (Marcy) was the main classification yard on East 71st Street with interchange yards on Grant Avenue for the Penn Central, Aetna Road for the Erie Lackawanna, and Clark Avenue for the Norfolk and Western and Baltimore & Ohio.
Union Beginnings: My Role as Utility Clerk
Fresh out of high school I landed a job in the union of Brotherhood of Rail and Airline Clerks (BRAC) first as Utility Clerk. In this position I was the extra man filling in wherever needed for vacations, sick days, weekends, and anything else for the other clerks at the Marcy yard office. My duties included Interchange clerk, Yard clerk and Crew dispatcher where I would manage the “extra board” to keep it perpetually updated, then call guys in to work within the 2-hour window to fill vacancies and all under the union rules (which they all knew better than I).
My work schedule varied, but the worst was when I had to work 1st “trick” (parlance for shift) on a Thursday from 7am-3pm, then return to work both 3rd trick that night and double thru to 1st on Friday. I was so tired by then on my drive home in my 1974 Mustang II (about a 35 mile drive) I had all my windows down even when it was snowing outside and had my Joe Walsh “Rocky Mountain High” cassette tape at top volume just to keep awake!
We still had 5-man crews with the engineer and fireman in the cab, conductor, a switchman and a brakeman. The hostler would make sure engines had all the fuel, water and sand for each crew. Full service was available in the Roundhouse which had a full 360-degree turntable. All the car knockers (car inspectors) worked out of the yard office and a full-service repair shop was on site at Marcy. We also had a full-service Maintenance of Way (M of W) department with gandy dancers making constant track repairs and track inspectors walking every track looking for repair needs.
Decline of Penn Central and Formation of ConRail
The Penn Central was in serious decline and would, along with the Erie Lackawanna and several other carriers be formed by Congress into Consolidated Rail (ConRail) in 1976. But in 1974 their interchange tracks were in such disrepair it was not uncommon for a track to overturn causing a derail simply because the ties underneath would crumble.
Night Shifts, Wild Dogs, and Fast Track Reports
One shock was when I had to check the Aetna yard for a new Erie drag at 1am. The ATM “armed” me with a walkie-talkie and a flare to ward off the wild dogs and bums who might come after me. That was probably the fastest track report I ever made!
There were computers in the main office but at the yard office everything was handwritten. All interchange reports were written by hand in triplicate as well as all yard checks.
Trying to write car numbers and get the details from the card tacked on the side of each car, climbing the ladder to confirm contents in an open car or get the seal numbers off a boxcar when it was pouring or driving snow was quite a challenge, especially at 2am, but an 18-year-old thinks he is invincible. The information was important as the TM or ATM would use those to write wheeler reports for the crew to assign the duties as they began.
Often there would be a pack of printed waybills at the PC yard office to help ID the cars when checking that interchange, or at times the N&W or B&O crew would leave waybills tucked in the coupler of the last car in the train for us.
Moving Up and Moving Forward
As a union member I had the opportunity to bid on other jobs, and after less than a year decided to pursue my college degree. Landing a position with more consistent hours to accommodate that was essential, and when the opportunity arose, I bid and won a position as cost accounting clerk in the office. My yard days were over. Or so I thought.
To be continued in our December issue...