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Re: Palmdale and West Colton, and before that Indio.... The crew agreements were kind of interesting...
Author: BOB2
Date: 07-11-2022 - 20:53
Mr. Bob Guy Wrote:
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> George,
> In the beginning, it was Palmdale to Indio. SP
> built brand new crew change Stations at both
> Palmdale and Indio because of it and those two
> buildings are still standing and in use today by
> UP, but only for MofW and Signal Offices.
Because of that, when it was operating out of Indio, the LA Division fireman would drop off at at Old Colton, and deadhead back to Indio, as the 282 award agreement, covering firemen, didn't apply to the "new" Palmdale cutoff. Which gave the Engineer the "No Fireman" rate of pay for the whole trip, as well.
Indio, and the "old" East End Pool (Indio to Yuma) that's a whole other RR world that was a whole lot of fun... There were still Huell Howser's "submarines" on the property, and a few of the "young heads" had "inherited" them, to sleep in, when it's 111 degrees in the shade. I've actually slept in one. There's nothing like the crunch of "date bugs" scurrying under your feet as you walk to your power on a hot steamy summer night in the old roundhouse in Indio.
The Palmdale cutoff was a funny place being a heavy grade and dark territory. Unlike Beaumont, it's the only place we'd come back down the mountain, after helping a train up from Colton, by tagging onto an eastbound. Which, eastbound down Cajon Pass were often heavy lumber trains. And because of the usually working extra dynamic braking on the helpers, you had enough operable dynamic braking for the tonnage. So they didn't have to do things like stop and set the retaining valves. We were then covered by a copy of that train's train orders. Which saved the dispatchers a lot of hastle, too.
-------------------------------------------------------
> George,
> In the beginning, it was Palmdale to Indio. SP
> built brand new crew change Stations at both
> Palmdale and Indio because of it and those two
> buildings are still standing and in use today by
> UP, but only for MofW and Signal Offices.
Because of that, when it was operating out of Indio, the LA Division fireman would drop off at at Old Colton, and deadhead back to Indio, as the 282 award agreement, covering firemen, didn't apply to the "new" Palmdale cutoff. Which gave the Engineer the "No Fireman" rate of pay for the whole trip, as well.
Indio, and the "old" East End Pool (Indio to Yuma) that's a whole other RR world that was a whole lot of fun... There were still Huell Howser's "submarines" on the property, and a few of the "young heads" had "inherited" them, to sleep in, when it's 111 degrees in the shade. I've actually slept in one. There's nothing like the crunch of "date bugs" scurrying under your feet as you walk to your power on a hot steamy summer night in the old roundhouse in Indio.
The Palmdale cutoff was a funny place being a heavy grade and dark territory. Unlike Beaumont, it's the only place we'd come back down the mountain, after helping a train up from Colton, by tagging onto an eastbound. Which, eastbound down Cajon Pass were often heavy lumber trains. And because of the usually working extra dynamic braking on the helpers, you had enough operable dynamic braking for the tonnage. So they didn't have to do things like stop and set the retaining valves. We were then covered by a copy of that train's train orders. Which saved the dispatchers a lot of hastle, too.
