Don Gold is the only regular J Yard YM I can remember?

That is permanent and comes from the first time I got called to fire a job in the J Yard, about my second week working, and couldn't find it. I called the crew dispatcher and he told me where to turn on Alameda, but I was about 20 minute late.

I went to the Yard Office, and asked where the job was, and Don told me they had left, but he'd take me to them and drop me off. I noticed that he had a picture of his sons High School graduation, and I asked if Steve was his son, and he said yes, (we'd both graduated two weeks before, while I was already doing my student trips).

Don drove me down Alameda to where a spur cut off around some buildings and he told me walk back there. He said, that I'd see 3 engines, and that there were a set of stairs leading up to a door. He told I'd find my crew there.

I went back, and found 3 spurs, with 3 old Baldwin switchers, (each crew had "their" spur) and went to the stairs, walked up, knocked, and the door opened to the Pabst tap room.......and the real story of my misspent youth with the SP was off to a dubious start, indeed.

Everyone there is retired by now, and the names weren't changed to protect the innocent.... because if you worked with these old heads, you weren't going to be innocent for very long.