Jack, pretty good memory for a guy of your "seniority".

Just for posterity, Crater (aka "Compound Kitty") first appeared at Brooklyn shortly after Doyle's RSD-5 arrived (from Utah?). The unit was in the first stall (closest to the service tracks) and the under-cab equipment access doors were hanging open.

Walking alongside the unit in the cramped quarters at the narrow end of the stall, there was a mean hiss and a few quick swipes of sharp claws from the somewhere in the darkness under the cab. A job briefing was held, and it was decided to walk to the convenience store over by the Semaphore restaurant at 17th & Holgate for cat food. Open cans of food were carefully slid in under the cab and were quickly emptied.

She became friendlier, and a single fluffy gray and white kitten appeared in there as well. That kitten also grew up at Brooklyn, but always remained somewhat skittish. Both were eventually rounded up and taken to the vet for shots, and when a note from the vet arrived saying that the kitten was due for a booster shot, he quickly picked up the name "Booster". Crater, as previously mentioned, was named for her resemblance to the shiny, jet-black puddles between the rails.

It's not known if Crater and Booster moved into the Alco shortly after it arrived at Brooklyn, or if they made the trip there with the unit. Maybe they started out on the Utah Railway before coming to the SP.

Crater was a tough roundhouse cat, but she loved attention and sitting on a lap to be petted. More than once, she climbed a ladder leaning against the boiler of a certain engine, then walked the length of the barrel to check in on someone working up there.