Part 2 - The All-new Iron Cross
On April 8 I started attending classes at the Holiday Inn at Trinidad . Bob, the instructor , was excellent- a 30 year man who knew his stuff and knew how to impart that knowledge . Typical of hotels ,the room was overheated and uncomfortable . Nevertheless ,I was learning about a very different kind of railroading ,one that was a latticework of rules and codes ,all truly life-or-death , all based on common sense . There were 13 people in my class .I was the second oldest ,with most of the men in their early to mid twenties .It was sobering to see that , and it had an effect on me .They were smart young men ,and it was obvious early that some were going to excellent railroaders . One 22-year old man already had two years of experience .Nearly all of my fellow classmen had a good grip of what this job was going to demand of them .
Something interesting I soon observed was unlike the monolithic Union Pacific system ,The BNSF Ry. was basically run like a confederation of "fallen flag" roads . When Jim Hill's colossus (Burlington Northern) merged with the "Old Iron Cross"(ATSF Ry.),the methodical (and some say humorless)ATSF CEO Robert Krebs was determined not to repeat the mistakes of the UP when it aquired the SP .SO the old ATSF system maintained its own work rules and union agreements , different than the other BN roads .Despite an official merger into the BN system in the 1980s ,what I worked on was, is and always will be the Colorado and Southern , though unofficially .
Early in my introduction I saw some problems . There were no apparent jobs anwhere in Colorado .The only big openings were in yards in Chicago's South Side ,Memphis ,Fort Worth and East LA .You did not have to be a Rhodes Scholar to know these were "hardship posts". Someone noted that they saw the yard office in Memphis .It was surrounded with concertina wire . I remembered hearing that switchman in East LA all carried firearms . It was also implied that we may have to chase jobs all over the country for a while . The Bnsf had just purchased 70 "black boxes" , which basically allowed the switchman to operate the switch engine from a radio-controlled "transformer" Another 130 were on order .Thios was going t ocost a lot of jobs , and puit pressure on existing jobs all over the system. I was starting to have my doubts .
As noted by Rick Steele , new-hire railroaders were working at a great disadvantage to the men with seniority . The unions ,fearing that railroads would throw the unions off the property during the Reagan years, gave away a lot . The cabooses left ,and as a new hire I would only get a percentage of the pay and benefits a man with seniority had ,for the next five years . The union reps painted a dark but honest picture of what railroading is .Though it was basically old news to me ,it gave me pause to think . After aweek of class , it was on to the trains .
