Ah the memories

Strange how some things stick in your mind. It was around midnight on Tuesday August 14, 1959 and I was making my date as a fireman on the SP Coast Division. I was called as the graveyard hostler helper at Mission Bay roundhouse in San Francisco. The hostler was showing me the ropes on an old Alco switcher. The main reservoir was stenciled "drain daily" and he showed me how to drain it, and admonished me to do it whenever I was taking responsibility for an engine, along with checking the dip stick, the oil level in the governor, the cooling water level, and check for chains on the wheels. There are a lot of things far more recent that have totally disappeared from my memory, but that sticks.
By the way, if Fritz reads this, Terry Barnes made his date as a fireman the same day, but I somehow beat him out and was one higher on the list.

JBWX