HE WAVED AT HER...as his train past by once a day...to the GIRL in Everett,mass.and she would WAVE BACK to him..That was almost 100 years ago as I recall the story He was a conductor on trains for the BOSTON,Worcester & Providence Railroad Company..The railroad was THE JOB TO HAVE back then...TRAINS connected all our little towns and cities...NOT TOO LONG AGO...If you are over 60 years old you remember the trains,the stations..the businesses nearby utilizing them as well has,cattle cars,fuel cars and PULLMAN cars(the RITZY dinning cars)The line he traveled was from Boston,each morning EARLY ar a train yard in Everett,Ma..The conductor was ultimitly responsible for the safety of the train,its crew and passengers..He would check out each car quickly,always looking at their pocket watches..a story in themselves...being very conscious of the DEPARTURE TIME...If a train is not ON TIME...COLLISIONS OCCURRED...BAD ONES..like in 1890s when 2 collided at full speed killing many and the nation was outraged ..The railroads were the biggest business once,total power over many things with the government condoning them..The country gained as the railroads expanded so a necessary evil compromise had existed since the civil war era..This accident put the spotlight on them..The trains did run well...but this happened..(like our shuttle full of astronauts) and the final concllusion of the huge investigation was ...THAT ONE CONDUCTORS WATCH...WAS WRONG BY 12 minutes...It was a common practice for a SWITCHMAN to be in a little booth,by the tracks..8 hrs a day,3 shits of switchmen,...as soon as a moving train passed they immedietly unlocked and moved the big lever which could switch the tracks..this was done to control who was going where...IT was determined that one conductor...LEFT THE STATION (He would wave from the rear of the train,while hanging off as far as he could for the locomotive engineer to GET MOVING..ITS OK...WE ARE ON TIME...The time records were studied and it proved HIS WATCH TIME WAS OFF..because he left that last town...TOO EARLY. That year all pocket watches..to meet railroad work standards were changed to have AT LEASE 17 JEWELS in the MOVEMENT (diamond,ruby and saffire were used--a tiny piece here and there kept the internals gear turning on non wearable surfaces to avoid wear)..YOU cant open those little watches that easily to work on either...The Jewels made it more expensive but were now like the atomic clocks of today...The watch COULD NOT HAVE a flip open cover OVER THE GLASS FACE of the piece (many watches do ,called a HUNTERS CASE..protected the glass)..If that cover did not open ON TIME...YOU get the idea...Then the railroad was required to have TIME STANDARD officials who did a monthly TEST OF YOUR WATCH..AGAINST THEIR even more refined pieces..WHEN ITS LIFE AND DEATH SITUATIONS...OUR SMART minded people..FIX THE PROBLEM....Now they still are required to have a RAILROAD certified WATCH..wristones and atomic..precision allowed..Framinham,Mass had the last CROSSING SIGNAL MAN..It was a small booth downtown,at the station...between the tracks and next to the sidewalk...When a train approached he would raise and then after passing,lower the big BLOCK TRAFFIC devices...THOSE were the days..They automated it in 1985...I hate that crossing as a train passes every 20 minutes and when one ends another might be TIMED to pass by,AT THE SAME TIME both barreling along and I have counted 80 cars with 4 locomotives pulling it.. The conductor at the beginning of this story..had his watch too..train issued finally..He said as he pulled out of the yard each day he saw a thin,light skinned Irish girl..hanging laundry and as she looked up to the train..he tipped his hat and she smiled back at him...After that day he looked for her to be sitting out on the porch or washing clothes in a bucket with a washboard...Those Irish women could be CRAZY about CLEAN,CLEAN,Clean..maybe it was partly true the men drank OFTEN and the women were a nervous wreck...NO GUY will interrupt his socks and underwear getting washed......He said at night ,in the winter since it was so cold out that she was in a window,looking out to wave...SHE KNEW THE EXACT TIME he would pass by..He would see her and he would swing his old SIGNALLY Lantern left and right to WAVE BACK at her...Usually that lantern was used to tell the conductor up front to MOVE OUT if it were dark or blizzards too..and the switchman on the ground would SWING THEM left and right to say...OK IT IS OK.........If you get stuck at a railroad crossing you will always hear the whistle blow...TOOT-TOOT.....TOOT....TOOT..2 short blasts,a pause,one burst,a pause,another blast---they have several codes but we only get to hear the one that SIGNALS....RAILROAD CROSSING..required when it crosses a road.....I lived next to a trainyard at one time,knew a few switchman and I heard......TOOT.TOOT.TOOT.TOOT....several times..THAT ..I AM BACKING UP NOW.. The conductor married,had one son in Everett,named a Junior after Daddy..and they relocated along his every day trips to a quiet little town,Blackstone,mass and they had 8 more kids....He was walking on the top of a train once,saw a bridge ahead and ducked in time to not be knocked off but was hurt and retired.Now retired he was allowed to go to the local trainyard with his sons to pick up,loose coal on the ground and old broken railroad ties for firewood..One day the oldest son,on top of a pile of ties,big pile..was tossing them down and one sister didnt hang onto 4 yr old little brother with them and he was killed by it..It was a terrible accident but I know it bothered my father very much and I think it was part of his drinking issue at times........My military records show Blackstone,mass as my HOME OF RECORD listed on it....Its TIME to end this story. but one more thing of note about MILFORD--read on a short piece I found on the Framingham railroad history.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 15:08:54 +0000
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