Altamont Press Discussion Board :: Discussion

Re: Depot at Holt.

Author: NdeM

Date: 09-11-2010 - 15:55

Holt, CA brings back memories.

I was 18 years old in March 1977 when I hired out with AT&SF as a tie gang crew member. Those of us who hired on were told to meet at Holt, which was not easy to find in the dark at 5:00AM. I can confirm that no station was there, only a siding with work train cars including ancient Pullman sleepers with no heat, light or running water, stained mattresses, and some really tough but decent guys... We had to hook all the utilities up ourselves; one of the guys almost got sideswiped by a 79MPH Amtrak train as we were working on the utilities hookup between the crew cars and the mainline. The first night we even built a "campfire" out of some ties and gasoline, as the veterans made up nicknames for us newbies. I got stuck with the name "Radar" like the guy on the TV show MASH.

A friend fractured his hand after day two, and I left by the end of the week, as I was not durable enough for heavy manual labor - tie replacement was not automated as it is now! Well, at least I was "workin' on the railroad", for a short time anyway, which started and ended at Holt, CA!

Navigate: Previous Message•Next Message

Options: Reply To This Message•Quote This Message

Subject	Written By	Date/Time (PST)
Depot at Holt.	Mike55	09-10-2010 - 18:14
Re: Depot at Holt.	Drew Jacksich	09-10-2010 - 21:55
Re: Depot at Holt.	John Sweetser	09-10-2010 - 22:42
Re: Depot at Holt.	NdeM	09-11-2010 - 15:55
Re: Depot at Holt.	Mike55	09-13-2010 - 20:16
Re: Depot at Holt with passing trains	Drew Jacksich	09-13-2010 - 22:39
Re: Depot at Holt with passing trains	John Sweetser	09-14-2010 - 09:11
Re: Depot at Holt with passing trains	Drew Jacksich	09-14-2010 - 10:56
Re: Depot at Holt with passing trains	J	09-14-2010 - 09:39
Re: Depot at Holt with passing trains	Steven D. Johnson	09-14-2010 - 11:03
History of Holt	J	09-14-2010 - 11:39

Go to: Message List•Search

Subject:
Your Name:

Help information:

BBcode help

Spam prevention:

Please, enter the code that you see below in the input field. This is for blocking bots that try to post this form automatically.

  ******   **     **  ********  **    **  ******** 
 **    **  ***   ***  **         **  **   **       
 **        **** ****  **          ****    **       
 **        ** *** **  ******       **     ******   
 **        **     **  **           **     **       
 **    **  **     **  **           **     **       
  ******   **     **  **           **     ********

Enter code:

NdeM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Holt, CA brings back memories. 
> 
> I was 18 years old in March 1977 when I hired out
> with AT&SF as a tie gang crew member. Those of us
> who hired on were told to meet at Holt, which was
> not easy to find in the dark at 5:00AM. I can
> confirm that no station was there, only a siding
> with work train cars including ancient Pullman
> sleepers with no heat, light or running water,
> stained mattresses, and some really tough but
> decent guys... We had to hook all the utilities up
> ourselves; one of the guys almost got sideswiped
> by a 79MPH Amtrak train as we were working on the
> utilities hookup between the crew cars and the
> mainline. The first night we even built a
> "campfire" out of some ties and gasoline, as the
> veterans made up nicknames for us newbies. I got
> stuck with the name "Radar" like the guy on the TV
> show MASH.
> 
> A friend fractured his hand after day two, and I
> left by the end of the week, as I was not durable
> enough for heavy manual labor - tie replacement
> was not automated as it is now! Well, at least I
> was "workin' on the railroad", for a short time
> anyway, which started and ended at Holt, CA!

This message board is maintained by:Altamont Press
You can send us an email at altamontpress1@gmail.com