GREAT STORY!!!!! THANKS A TON!


Ex-PTFF on the PNWR Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 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.