KevinM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Earl Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > This was the first train out of Durango since
> Dec.
> > 5. A three-day Chama Turn with no train from
> > Durango ran on Dec. 7-9. and a flanger train
> ran
> > over the hill from Alamosa to Chama on Dec. 13
> &
> > 14.
>
> >
> > This was the last operation over Cumbres for
> 1961.
> > On Dec. 29-30 a turn was made from Durango to
> > Chama and return.
> >
> > Next train out of Alamosa was Jan. 3, 1962.
>
> This is interesting. I guess I didn't realize
> just how intermittent the freight trains were,
> even in the early 60s. How did the D&RGW retain
> their crews? Did these folks work in other
> capacities on the days when they weren't called
> for train service? I wouldn't think folks could
> make a living running trains as infrequently as
> was apparently the case by that period.
>
> /Kevin Madore
Perhaps it was not as bad as it sounds. Each train from Durango or Chama usually meant three days of work, in terms of return legs, hill turns, and Farmington turns. When I first started visiting it was not unusual for there to be two trains a week from Alamosa and Durango, which resulted in six days of work for the crews. And Durango had a seven day a week switcher. The period that Earl cited was over the Christmas, and in my experience in engine service on the SP, crews often wanted to layoff during the holidays. So the lack of trains may have been as much to deal with crew availability as traffic to move. Earl knows the specific mechanics better than I, but presumably the ng. guys had the ability to bid in jobs on the standard gauge out of Alamosa if things got too slow on the ng. More generally, and assuming the DRGW was pretty much like the SP, operating employees stayed busy by moving around to where the work was. And often you could take advantage of paid deadheads and a few boards guaranteed a minimum whether you worked or not. It required a bit a flexibility, but you could make a good living at it.
I have a friend who was a pilot for UA (now retired). He used to like to work "reserve" (what at the railroad we called the extra board) because he often got extra days off with pay when they didn't need him. And he lived a long way from where his crew base was. It reminded me of the old days on the railroad when we played the same kind of games. But his deadheads were a lot faster.
JBWX
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/2018 10:49PM by John West.
