Ernesto in Modesto Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Might as well add that the siding length at Cedric
> (pronounced See-Drik) was 6653 feet,
> compared to only 4237 feet at Grace and Vendome
> was about as short as Grace siding. Janney was
> another siding they didn't use much, only slightly
> longer than Grace and Vendome sidings.
>
> The most common places for meets on Pipestone were
> Piedmont, Cedric, Donald and Newcomb.
>
>
> Ernie


Hello Ernie,

My uncle was assigned to Janney a couple of times. His first stint covered 1957 to 1959. The second ran from 1964-1974 when it all ended. I remember asking him about meets at Janney. On earlier visits to Morel in 1953 and 1954, #16 frequently went in the hole for #263. Many summer mornings I'd awaken on the sleeping porch at his bungalo and catch glimpses of #16 easing down the siding toward the east switch as #263 rolled by on the main. I spent a few summers at Janney in the late 50's, mid 60's, and early 70's. In all those visits there was nary a meet. The siding was short, but my uncle said the grade was also a factor.

Janney was an interesting place, what with the helpers and the huge 3,000 KW machine #4 housed in the metal shed attached to the east end of the MG room. Janney was always a manual station and on many occasions my uncle took me into the machine room when he started and stopped generators. Between his assignments to Janney, he lived at Gold Creek and worked relief there, at Ravenna, and at Morel. Those three stations were tied together so an operator at one could run all three. Eventually these substations were operated from Janney; while Primrose, Tarkio, and Drexel were handled from East Portal.

His first long-term assignment came in 1951, and was at Morel. Its conversion to remote control landed him at Janney. In 1962, in order to avoid having to cover the six stations between Morel and Drexel, he wound up in Avery for a time and then moved to Janney in 1964. He was on duty June 16, 1974, when the Deer Lodge switcher dropped its pan for the last time. A while later he turned off the MG set at Morel, and the electrification was done. He spent the next few months taking apart substation equipment at Janney and Piedmont, and finished his career tearing down the catenary. He said it was the toughest physical job he'd ever held. In January, 1978, he retired. He was already living in a new home in Belgrade. He had wisely stashed away the monthly equivalent of a house payment all those years working on the railroad. He paid cash for his home.

While visiting Janney I used to stand in my uncle's back yard and peer down at Newcomb as trains came out of Butte Yard to head up the hill. In about 10 minutes they'd come around the curve and through the cut just west of the substation. When diesels were in the consist the trains were audible for miles. Without them, the electrics were almost noiseless.