Re: Finally....NNG no steam either.

employee2 Wrote:
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> I dunno, Earl. Looks to me like you just couldn't
> hold a steady job...
>
> No, really that's a hellava career record. Nobody
> in the last 100 years (probably EVER) could match
> that record! Congratulations!!!
>
> Richard

I never set out to be a "boomer". I would have stayed at the C&TS except that my wife had gone through kidney transplant surgery and the care available in NM was frankly....terrible. At that time the C&TS was in the evil clutches of George Bartholomew. I saw 17 years of work going down the drain - quickly. I had to move on.

The Fort Worth & Western was an interesting gig. Old time steam railroading duking it out with modern diesels, CTC and stuff. Unfortunately while FWWR was talking to me about managing their passenger operation, they were also in negotiation to lease the whole passenger program to someone else. That group took it over 11 months after I got there. They had no benefits, no RR Retirement and cut my pay by 1/3. Time to go, I can't do this anymore. The wife had $2000 a month in anti-rejection drugs for her transplant. I need insurance. I landed a job with the Wichita, Tillman & Jackson RR in nearby (110 miles away) Wichita Falls, TX. Within 9 months, they lost their biggest shipper and cut me off. For the next 5 years I attempted to make a go of staying in Wichita Falls. We had a beautiful old home there, even though I never really liked being there.

I helped a bit in Chama, did some contracting work, landed a job up in Lawton, OK with the Stillwater Central. I had to rent an apartment up in the Lawton area as it was 120 miles from home. Spending 5 days and 4 nights a week away from home got real old, and they didn't pay very well. I thought real hard about giving up railroading. I had a tentative plan to go work for the D&S. In the meanwhile a short line owned by Iowa Pacific in west Texas called and offered me a job. Lubbock was 4 hours away. They paid about 30% more than my existing job. So I took it, renting another apartment in aptly named Brownfield TX. I was only there a few months when the D&S came calling.

My wife was originally from Durango. She still had family there. The thought was to work for the D&S in the summer and get contracting work for the winter, as it would take years to get a year-round position with the D&S. I went the D&S and spent the summer as a brakeman - the standard position for a new hire. Quickly the economic reality of life in Durango sunk in. Housing was insanely expensive, the pay was low. I was living in my sister-in-law's basement. At the end of the season I was $1200 poor-er than when I started. Another plan was needed.

I heard that Iowa Pacific had purchased the Arizona Eastern in Globe. I like the idea of "going home". They hired me, we moved out of Wichita Falls and settled into Globe. I was promoted to System Road Forman Of Engines. That winter they bought the San Luis & Rio Grande and immediately had problems with getting the trains down the 3% grades of La Veta Pass. I went up to Alamosa and applied the knowledge I learned running on the narrow gauge, and it worked. I was a hero. Then they asked me to move to where the action was in ALA.

I had a good a run with the SLRG, I got to run the first steam power over La Veta in 50 years. I later gave up the RFE job because of company politics and Corporate not understanding or willing to understand why one cannot create steam engineers in 30 days. I was on salary as the RFE, I went back to hourly as an engineer, and made more money. IPH offered me a job as General Manager of the newly- acquired Texas state RR. I took that job with the dream of making the TSR the "Strasburg Of the South", dedicated to running steam, having some great trains The big dream was a Santa Fe heavyweight steam powered dinner train. We already had an engine (4-6-2 1316) and Observation lounge, a couple of combines. We needed a couple of ATSF coaches. Painted Pullman green. It would have been AWESOME. Alas, quickly IPH sank into an ever expanding economic black hole. Corporate insisted I be somewhat less than truthful with my employees. Vendors weren't being paid. Some of the bare necessities were being funded by our personal credit cards. I had enough. They asked told me to leave. I did get one engine restored to is former glory of Texas & Pacific #316 and my most proud moment was returning properly lettered and restored Magma Arizona RR #7 to service.

I heard that the Cass Scenic RR was going into private hands. As the work I did at the formerly state-run TSR was quite similar, I asked for a job, and got hired. We were literally 2 days from packing up and moving to AZ, when I got the offer. The Uhaul went east to West Virginia instead. Cass was a weird place. Very, very isolated. They did not want any outsiders coming in to help. I was tasked with finding out all the problems and compliance issues and fixing them. There were.......lots of them. My report to the big boss was responded with "We'd better not do any of this, it will make all of them mad. They might burn the place down again..." I ended up running the little Climax engine in Durbin for the summer, although I did some running over in Cass mostly running either Shay 5 or Hiesler 6 to Whitaker. I did make a helper turn to Bald Knob running the Hiesler helping Shay 5 once. That was the highlight of my year. I began to wonder what would happen when the season was over, as whatever position I had was pretty much eliminated. That was answered when I got cut off on November a year after I got there. My time in WV was considered a big waste of time and (lots of) money. I did nothing worth while there. Everything I started was ignored.

At that point I went to AZ, where I am now. I needed about 24 months to get my 30 years in. I wanted to retire at the throttle of a steam locomotive. Working with steam and contributing to the Railroad Retirement had gotten tough. Very few operation did that. Strasburg was about the only game out there. I came up with a plan to work for them for 3 summers from April through November. That would get me my required months in. I got a deal for free housing at The "Burg". I was again away from home for way too long. But had to do what I had to do. At the time I was coming up with this, the RR industry was reeling from the crash of both the coal and oil markets. There was 25,000 less RR jobs that the year before. I was lucky to find anything.

Strasburg was fun for the first year. Something new. Lots of steam. Busy. Busy. Busy. By November, I was ready go home. The next spring I was not really excited about going back, but I did. I was always looking at the RR Retirement Board's job line for possibilities, when I saw a listing for the Copper Basin Ry needing an engineer. The CBRY was 70 miles from my house in AZ. I can commute to that. So, I applied and got hired. My dream of retiring running steam went down the drain, but by doing this, I would get my 30 years in 9 months earlier and I would be HOME. The worst part of that was do to my low seniority, I was stuck working nights. So, the last rites of my carrier was done "By the light of the Copper Basin Sun".

So, at best I was a "Reluctant Boomer".