Guest post by Frederick Manfred Simon.
May 5, 2019
Yep. That's me clamping down on my
trademark: an unlit Swisher Sweet, aka horseshit and splinters after
completing a run from Four Lakes to just west of Hartline on a warm,
Eastern Washington May day on the CW Sub. Don't ever light 'em, just
chew on them whenever I'm hoggin'. It keeps the munchies in check.
Bumbling along at a mere 10mph with some sections reduced to 5mph can
make for a bloody long, tiresome shift. Don't get me wrong, my focus
and vigilance are nevertheless uncompromisingly unceasing. It's an
"art" as my friend and fellow engineer Phil Brahms noted
while we were discussing the finer points of train handling the other
day over lunch. I don't think you'll find any engineer who'll argue
with Phil's assessment of the craft. A craft that is in jeopardy of
dying out. (Image courtesy of my friend and fellow Railroader James
House.)
The stoge is nothing new. In this shot from April 1987, Blair Kooistra found a stoge in use at Cunningham, WA.
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