| Chicago Burlington & Quincy Railroad NW2 9248 and crew at Narperville, Illinois, July 8, 1963, photo by Chuck Zeiler. This is the East End Way Freight between switching duties. Left to right: Mr. Fred J. Huntley - Engineer; Mr. Riedy (referred to as the College Boy by the crew), - Rear Brakeman, later, Head Brakeman; Mr. John Sylogye - Conductor; Mr. Norm Herrington - Fireman; and unknown - Head Brakeman. I have two stories about the Conductor. Shortly after this photo was shot, the gentlemen all went about the business of railroading. John however was curious about the spitting sound that the locomotive was making. There is a device on locomotives that separates the water from air when it is compressed, and expels the water automatically causing the spitting sound. John apparently was unfamiliar with that device and must have thought that the drain cock at the bottom of the air tank was not closed completely. He reached under the tank and turned the valve, which he opened by mistake instead, which expelled the water at the bottom of the tank at the full air pressure of around 100 pounds per square inch. The valve happened to be directly over the rail and the expelling water hit the rail and bounced back on John. After he corrected the error, the Engineer looked down from the cab at the soggy Conductor and said, 'Now now, mustn't play with the locomotive boys.' I was in high school during the years I knew John and the crew of the East End Way Freight. So I only hung around the railroad when I wasn't in school, which is to say on holidays and during the summer. I got familiar enough that I was allowed to do certain chores, one of which was to go to the Kroehler cafeteria and get coffee for the crew. This served several purposes; it got me out of the crew's hair, it made me feel like I was part of the crew, and the crew got free coffee. As it happened, my step-father ran the cafeteria, so I took the crew's thermos bottles and filled them up for free. On occasion, there was no time for my coffee services, so John made coffee in the waycar. I had never had coffee, so when it was offered to me, I felt like I should have some, being an honorary part of the crew. Perhaps it was because it was my first cup, or perhaps it was because that old coffee pot could have used a cleaning, but it was dreadful. Nevertheless, I drank it and made the best smiley face I could as I sat on the bunk in the coal-heated waycar with the crew. But I was more enthusiastic about my coffee services after that. |
