"This is an article that I wrote for Attorney Robert Rusch
from Rib Lake who was one of the movers and shakers that urged the Taylor
County Board to buy up the line Medford to Prentice, he wanted to hear
from someone who worked this line and tell about it. I spent the last 20
years Stevens Point to Park Falls."
The Pine Line
Love That Railroading
(The Iron Wheel and the Steel Rail)
An Engineer's view of the track ahead of his train, who among us all,
would not love his occupation when he alone has control over the locomotives
that were at times over 9,000 horsepower pulling over 100 cars and the
entire train weighing 10,000 tons to over 13,000 tons. It required skill
and dedication which in turn produced love and pride in your work. This
was done sitting in the Engineer's seat with all the controls in front
of him at his command, and he alone would call upon good judgment as to
when to set the air brakes and when to release them, when to increase the
locomotive power and when to decrease it. He would always be checking his
watch and the time table and schedule. The schedules of other trains both
opposing and following trains, superior trains and inferior trains, station
stops, and flag stops, train orders and special instructions. If you were
on a steam locomotive you would be continuously watching the water glass
gauge. The constant awareness of boiler water was always with you. If the
boiler did not received water the intense heat from the fire box (The fire
was white hot not an orange color from burning coal and the draft caused
by the exhaust from the cylinders up the smoke stack) could melt the crown
sheet of the boiler and the boiler could explode, killing the crew on the
head end of the train. This did happen many times on railroads throughout
the world.
The Railroad Watch
It had to be a certain size, 21 jewels, lever set, an approved make
and dial. It had to be inspected once a month by a jeweler, designated
by the railroad, all terminals had a jeweler that did this. His compensation,
I believe, was a pass to ride the passenger trains of the railroad. All
members of the train and yard crews had to carry a card that the jeweler
would sign and date indicating that your watch was inspected. Failure to
do this resulted in a trip to the office of the trainmaster to explain
yourself.
In addition, engineers and conductors, when reporting for duty at the
terminal, there was a train register which both had to sign indicating
that they compared their watches with the standard clock at the terminal.
If the watch showed between zero and 30 seconds fast or slow it had to
be so noted in the train register. If over 30 seconds, fast or slow,
the watch had to be set according to the standard clock. These standard
clocks at the terminal were checked everyday at 11:00 AM from a signal
over Western Union, Chicago, Ill.
Chelsea
Lets go back a little over 100 years and look at Chelsea when it was
a bustling railroad terminal, around the clock operations, 4 passenger
trains a day with connection to Rib Lake on a passenger car on the rear
end of a way freight train which made a couple of trips a day. Image piles
of firewood cut by the settlers along the Ashland Line right-of-way, fuel
for the steam engines, and seeing a steam locomotive standing along side
a stream, river, pond, or lake taking on water for the water tank of the
tender. This was done by using a siphon hose. The settlers were paid by
the railroad to keep an ample supply of firewood, later on the locomotives
would burn coal. Chelsea had a coaling dock and remember the wooden water
tanks and the long steel spout the fireman would pull down when he was
standing on the tender. He would position the spout over the opening in
the engine tender, then pull the rope that opened the valve at the water
tank. Many are the fireman who came down wet if he didn't position the
spout correctly as this water gushed out at great pressure to quickly fill
the tender.
Picture, if you will, a hotel with a restaurant at Chelsea. I know this
as my grandmother, Mary Wudi, was a cook there. She came from Austria when
12 years old, settling in Greenwood. About 1890 she met my grandfather,
Edward Pendergast, while he was working the Chelsea to Rib Lake run. This
was his first run as an engineer.
Chelsea also had stock pens for loading cattle in the stock cars. Once
a week the way freight would spot a car for loading and then it would be
on its way to Chicago and the famous stock yards.
Anyone walking into a railroad depot was always confronted with the
mysterious sound of the telegraph key. Everyone hearing this would wonder
what this metal key was saying. Even when the operator was not sitting
at his desk this telegraph key would emit its dots and dashes. Each station
had its own call letters such as BN or PF and the trained operator's ear
would recognize his call letters. He would then sit down and acknowledge
the call with the telegraph key and his call letters.
I can recall to this day the smell of valve oil that was mixed with
the steam that lubricated the cylinders and air pumps. The sharp cracking
sound of the exhaust steam as it left the stack. How the Engineer would
walk around his locomotive with his long spout oil can when he had the
opportunity to do so, reaching into the hard places to get at, that were
not automatic oiling. The Fireman would shake the grates and clean the
fire, sometimes in 90 degree weather in July or 30 below zero in a snowstorm.
You had to love your job!
Does anyone recall the twice a day mail delivery that the Postal Service
provided? Trains #111 and #112, #117 and #118, Ashland to Chicago, and
they provided sleeper car service? Yes, there are a lot of good memories
on this Ashland Line. But there are several sad recollections that go with
it. The train/auto collisions will always be with me. The same is true
for all train crews nationwide. They were so unnecessary, inattentive driving
was the primary cause. The crossings at most accidents were wide open,
motorist could see the trains coming for over a quarter mile, with the
headlights on bright, the whistle blowing and the crossing marked with
signs to alert the motorist.
At one time I considered taking a different run due to the collisions
I experienced on this Ashland run. Two collisions on County Hwy. O, south
end of Medford and one at Potaczek's crossing (Allman St.). The Dentist
who lived on the hill a quarter mile north of Potaczek's crossing decided
to test his brand new 4 wheel drive on a field across the tracks from his
home in heavy snow cover in February. He got hung up between the rails
due to the snow. He could hear us coming but could not see us nor could
we see his predicament because of track curvature. So he did the right
thing by running toward the train to stop us but alas it was too late to
stop. We struck the 4 wheel drive and it was a total loss. Damage to the
engine, several scratches. These locomotives weigh around 150 tons compared
to a one and a half ton auto.
Another at County Hwy. M just south of Whittlesey, a fatality. I was
sad. Also a slow moving collision with an auto on County Hwy. D at Westboro
while switching over the crossing. It spun the auto around and they ended
up heading in the opposite direction. Two boys and two girls with a lot
of beer cans strewn about inside the auto. No injuries. The girls walked
home.
The feeling an Engineer has when there is a collision on a crossing
can not be described here in this article especially when there are fatalities.
There is a sense of hopelessness after doing everything possible to avoid
the accident, blowing the whistle prior to the crossing, bright headlight,
bell ringing, strobe light on, and the engine and train brakes applied
in the emergency position. Then knowing it may take half a mile to a mile
to stop the train. It is a feeling you can never forget. Twenty collisions
in 35 years and I can remember every one of them. For some the coroner
was called, the ambulance for others, and some walked away without a scratch.
Snowmobiles
I dreaded these machines. Not that I didn't enjoy them myself nor would
I want to ban them, its just that some people selected the most dangerous
place to ride them. I mean down the railroad tracks, in the middle, between
the rails.
We all know the noise these machines emit. A snowmobile operator was
never aware of a train coming up behind unless he turned around and looked.
And they rarely did! They couldn't hear the diesel horn above the noise
their snowmobiles made.
An example of this happened on Train #18 about 1 mile north of Abbotsford,
it almost ended in tragedy, when our train was going around a curve approaching
Abbotsford. We came up on two snowmobilers traveling in the same direction
as we were. The husband on one machine and his wife on the other. What
made this situation worse was the fact that each parent carried a child
with them. They both were unaware of our train bearing down on them. I
immediately put all brake valves into emergency application, diesel power
off, and pulled on the whistle cord continuously to get their attention
and warn them off the track. I could not get them to look back and all
this time we were gaining on them and they still did not respond. Believe
me, there was a high state of apprehension in the cab of our locomotive.
Then the good man upstairs must have decided that it was just not their
time to leave this world. The brakes started doing their job and a gap
between us started to widen and later when we came to a complete stop,
then and only then, did they turn around and notice the peril they had
got themselves into. They departed the rails and kept on going south along
the right of way fence and exited on the 1st crossing road in a hurry.
To this day these people do not know how close they came to death along
with their children.
Friends
Who among us have not been intrigued and fascinated when coming into
possession, or watching, a toy electric train? Every man, women, and child
has, there are no exceptions. Mine was when I was 5 or 6 years old, a Christmas
morning. It was a wind up, not electric, but to a child there was no difference
(its a train). Today this is a popular hobby, can be expensive, enjoyed
not by children alone but by grown adults, including myself. My wife has
a pot holder that says, "Pray for me, my husband collects trains".
Every subdivision had a family living along the tracks who would always
come out of there homes and wave to the train crews as they went by. If
it was dark, they would flick their yard lights a few times and the Engineer
would answer with a highball (two short blasts of the whistle). Both parties
felt good! Two of my most faithful highballers were Don Radtke (Don's Shurfine
Store) and Charlies Little Bar, both of Westboro. They never missed a train.
Also, Chuck Nelson of Chelsea was a reliable highballer. This went on for
years, how I miss those small friendly events.
Another event I miss happened every spring for a few years. A group
of pre-school or kindergarten pupils would be waiting for our train at
the Prentice depot looking forward to riding our train. Bob Wicklander,
the agent, would ask me if I would give the children a ride the evening
before on our way north and the next morning they would be there waiting
for #18 south bound along with their teachers. We had to put half of the
children in the rear unit where my fireman looked after them for safety
reasons. I will never forget the expressions these children had on their
faces as they climbed up to the cab of these locomotives. They ranged in
age from 4 to 5 years old. They will never forget this experience and neither
will I. After a short ride they thanked me and I knew I would see another
group the following year. Bob, the agent, and myself were braking a few
railroad rules doing this, but what the heck. The joy and pleasure these
children experienced from this ride made it worth the risk we took.
Memories
With this bit of history, I hope the people that will be enjoying this
new trail, Medford to Prentice, and traveling it by whatever methods, will
let their imaginations wonder a bit. How was it the day, June 2 1877, this
line, Ashland to Milwaukee, was completed 113 years ago ?
Try to visualize the thousands of men and women that rode those passenger
trains enroute to their induction centers during World Wars I and II. They
came from every city, town, and village along this route, some never to
return.
Try to remember the emigrants that came here in the late 1880's and
early 1900's from foreign lands. Alone, without friends. They must have
been lonesome, but with great hope in their hearts in this new world.
Try to imagine the hobo's that would ride these trains, either on the
locomotive tender or in an empty box car or gondola. Thousand upon thousands
must have rode these trains over the past 113 years. They will ride here
no more.
Ray Pendergast Jr.
1990 |
