I wish I had more stories from Jim. Often when I would visit him and Vivian we'd talk about all sorts of things(the weather, politics, etc.). They were usually more interested in what I was doing than what they had done. After an hour or two Jim would sometimes say: "Not much happened when I worked for the railroad, but there was this one time..." and this would lead to one of the wonderful stories I've related here.
Vivian told me that when Jim got promoted to Road Foreman he initially worked out of Pueblo and any time an incident happened on the railroad she'd pack him a couple of sandwiches and other food stuffs and she'd never know if he'd be gone just a day or nearly a week! Many people are very humble about their lives and it takes a lot of time to get them to tell you about what they did.
Jim did have a small photo album he would get out from time to time and share and this would sometimes prompt a story. I wish I could remember more. Here' a couple minor stories that I'll relate:
Jim told me his first experience on the RGS was firing a K-27 to Dolores and back in a nearly constant rain storm. This would have been in 1949 or 1950. He said they went on the ground multiple times and by the way the crew handled it he realized that it was just part of the RGS experience. He said that RGS #20 was the helper engine and it's fireman offered to trade places and Jim could fire an engine that used less coal. He declined due to the #20's deck less cab. He said he really didn't want to do that again and only took an RGS job when he had no other options.
He also related the entire conflict with his grandpa Brice not wanting him to work for the railroad. Jim's father ran a service station in Durango and after Jim graduated from High School he went to work for his dad. Only a short time into this job and he became restless and decided to hire out on the Rio Grande. All fireman were supposed to get three student trips on various runs of the narrow gauge. Jim only got one student trip to Farmington and back. The next day he got called as Fireman on a freight to Chama. When Jim arrived at the yard he realized this was the real deal. He asked what happened to his other two students trips and the dispatcher said that his Engineer on his student trip had vouched for him and he was ready for service.
Jim said he had no idea where Chama was or how long it took to get there. He hadn't brought any spare clothes and only a sandwich. He said they departed Durango in the late afternoon and he thought he must have shoveled coal for what felt like 20 hours straight before they stopped in Chama. He said he could barely walk off the engine and was shocked when he found out his return trip was in only 8 hours. Being late at night there was no food available. He said sleep would not have been a problem, but he was very hungry. He got some grub the next morning before he climbed back on the locomotive.
The return trip was another eternal round of shoveling. After a few trips Jim said he finally got the hang of it and it wasn't so bad. As for his grandpa Brice: although at first he was upset he changed his mind when he began to hear good stories about his grandson and was quite proud of him late in his life.
I'll post more if they come to mind. I had always wanted to bring a recorder, but sadly never did...
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/05/2014 10:53AM by Dave Peterson.
