Boy does that bring back fond childhood memories!

Just a bit earlier (spring/summer of 1961), My grandfather took me to work with him several times to Marysville and Yuba City. On one such occasion, I was fortunate to be invited onboard the 654 (or was it the 653) to ride with the engine crew, while my Grandfather was directing the construction of overhead trolley wire on a major new industrial spur in Yuba City. Handling the wire unexpectedly got a bit dicey in the 109 degree heat, so he arranged for the engine crew to pick me up and keep me out of harms way for most of the afternoon.

What a ride. Imagine riding the 654 on the WP tracks, alongside the Afternoon Zephyr as it departed Marysville. Or back and forth across the the Feather River Bridge between Yuba City and the packing houses and industries of Marysville. Or as we switched cars on and off of WP Symbols (WP called them "Manifests") when they stopped in Marysville.

Most of my time up there was spent helping him in his work on the catenary or on various pieces of signal equipment. On occasion, he would have to work on the electrical gear on the engines themselves in the Yuba City Yard. This was not normally part of his job, but Yuba City was far from any shops, and the few WP shop guys that were familiar with the juice jacks were hours away. If he was in the area when there was a problem, they would ask his help.

But sometimes the work was too sophisticated for a teenager to be of any use, such as on the CTC code lines. When that happened, he would turn me loose to explore on my own. But to keep me in line I guess, he would give me scare story. I was to stay completely off the WP main at all times; and at least one and a half car lengths away from the tracks when a train was passing; and very quickly crossing the main only where I could see a half mile in both directions.

The one scare story that sticks to mind (like nuclear glue), was the time they discovered a small crack in a contact wire joint on the catenary over the WP main, a few hundred feet south of the Depot. This threatened to release the tension on the wire - a catastrophy, it it happened. There was not time to bring the trolley towers from Yuba City, but they did have a 20 ft ladder on one of the trucks.

As dangerous as this was, my grandfather sent a helper to the Depot to report the situation and get emergency clock time from the dispatcher. When the helper signaled a highball from the depot door, they put the ladder square on the WP main. My Grandfather then went up himself while several of his men held the ladder. He tied the ladder to the catenary and went to work replacing the joint before it broke off.

But low and behold, just as he lowered the last tool and was about to descend the ladder, a westbound fast freight came a barreling around the curve. With only seconds to react, he rapped himself up around the catenary wire and cut the rope holding the ladder. As the geeps hit the ladder, the hanging rope snagged on him, almost pulling him off the catenary - did friction burn him severely. Imagine hanging on a 1200 volt wire, as a train drags your support out from under you and continues on for most of a mile before it stops!

This happened even with absolute clock time; Or so he thought! But the accident investigation revealed there was no clock time. The helper had contacted the dispatcher, but the dispatcher had put him off without hearing the emergency report. The helper just went out and waved a highball and spent the rest of the time goofing off in the depot - never did call back and never reported his failure to get track time.

To an impressionable young boy, that certainly meant railroads were very dangerous places to be. Even when you think you've got it right - you just might not! I guess after 38 years of signal engineering myself, this old man is still very impressionable - in that regard.

Alas, it seems all good things come to an end. Not too many years later, and not to long after the Gulf of Tonkin incident you mention, I found myself in the Gulf on an old WWII navy rust bucket fighting that war. When I came home two years later, my grandfather had retired. And the overhead was retired not long after him.

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Drew,
I hope there is a lot more SN stuff where that came from. As I have said before, your photography is exceptional - It is fine art. As much as we have all said you should make calendars or publish in books, your work belongs in the Library of Congress. They have a very large collection of American photography, including a lot of deeply artistic railroad photography. It is viewable and down-loadable on a website called "American Memory from the Library Of congress"

American Memory from the Library Of Congress

Browse their website, especially the railroad section, and you will see that your work will fit right in, if you are so inclined to leave a legacy there.

OPB