J. D. Santucci (a.k.a. "Tuch")
began his railroading career in 1978 as a trainman on the Missouri
Pacific. After a round of lay-offs in 1985, Tuch embarked on a railroad
odyssey, working in many different situations for different roads.
This column tries to explain
some of the nuts and bolts of the job and also demonstrates what
we have to deal with on a regular basis within and without
the industry. Tuch currently works through freights out of Chicago
for Canadian National/Illinois Central.
October 10, 2002
I get various ideas, suggestions and requests for topics of which to write.
I have considered the concept of today's feature quite awhile, but recently
received a couple of requests relating to this topic.
In previous columns I have mentioned the "eat and run" play
which deals with eating while running the engine. I have also touched
upon picking up food along the way. Today we shall delve much more deeply
into the subject. Food is something near and dear to me as well as most
other railroaders.
One thing railroaders seem to be very good at is seeking out places to
eat. It seems like even in the middle of nowhere, we can find a place
to get something to eat. This is either a gift or perhaps a survival technique.
When faced with severe hunger pangs and having been on duty for ten hours
or more, we seem to be able to sniff out cooked food. I guess we are like
bloodhounds in pursuit of an escaped felon. We know all the good and bad
places to eat. Sometimes we will even eat at the bad places because we
are really hungry, it is the only place open and after all, it is food.
Once upon a time, I didn't always carry along a good lunch. Some days
I only brought some fruit or munchies. Other times I would stop and eat
on the way to work. Usually this was in anticipation of working only eight
hours. And still other times I carried a good lunch. Years of practical
experience have since taught me that it is in my best interest to always
carry a twelve hour lunch. That is, enough food to last me for a twelve
hour journey across the high iron.
One particular trip changed my brown bag lunch attitude forever. While
working at the MoPac in 84, I got called one Saturday morning for train
CSK (manifest, Chicago-St Louis-Kansas City). While working the road,
I lived at the wrong end. The home terminal was Villa Grove, IL and I
lived at the Chicago end here in Northwest Indiana. I went home (or to
somebody else's home) while I was in Chicago and stayed at the hotel in
Villa Grove. Being that I was not home that much anymore, I wasn't keeping
the house stocked up with food. This particular morning, I decided to
stop and get some Popeye's chicken on the way to work, as there was nothing
in the house to take with.
We went on duty at Yard Center at 1100 and were cabbed to the Belt Railway's
Clearing Yard in Bedford Park to get our power and train. While waiting
on the Belt to get everything ready, I chowed down on Cajun style chicken,
biscuits, and red beans and rice. Normally, once we departed Clearing
Yard, the trip was generally about five to six hours. This would be more
than enough time to get into the Grove and patronize one of the local
eateries long before they closed up for the night. Key on the word normally.
This day we headed south like normal making pretty good time once we finally
got out of the nut house called the Chicago Terminal. We met a northbound
on the double track near Pittwood, IL and they told us on the radio of
a derailment at Glover, IL. Hmm, this cannot be good. We continued on
south onto the single track which was commonly referred to as "the
Branch" and were headed into the siding at Goodwine. This was the
first siding on the single track about ten miles south of Woodland Jct.
where the double track ended.
We sat at Goodwine for the better part of an hour when the Chicago Sub
Dispatcher calls and requests the head man come to the phone box to give
him a call for some sort of instructions. Marvin Kleinmeyer made the stroll
to the phone box and called. When he returned to the engine, he told of
our swapping blocks with train CFZ (Chicago-Fort Worth Expedited). This
was a very hot intermodal train that also carried a block of finished
autos for the Dallas-Fort Worth area as well as auto parts for GM's Buick-Oldsmobile-Pontiac
(BOP) plant in Arlington, TX. We had some of those autos and parts in
our train. Normally, these cars would be set out at the Grove and CFZ
would pick them up there at about 1700 hours and continue on towards the
Lone Star State.
Being the derailment had things blocked ahead, the powers that be decided
we should get the cars to them at Goodwine as they would catch up to us
as well as pass us here. They didn't want to miss a connection on these
cars losing half a day on them. Had they missed, these cars would have
sat in Villa Grove until train CDZ (Chicago-Dallas Expedited) came along
about 0500 or so in the morning. We worked things out with CFZ, added
the cars to their train and then rode in with them as far as the train
could go.
Upon arrival at Glover, the derailment was not yet cleared and the main
track was still closed. Then, we were all piled into a cab and sent to
the Grove via the rubber tire instead of steel wheels. By this time, it
was nearly 2300 hours. That chicken I had eaten nearly twelve hours earlier
had long since worn off. I was now getting hungry. No, I already was hungry,
now I was getting really hungry, really, really hungry. My stomach was
empty and it was singing a rousing course of the "aireurps."
You know that sound, "AIR-E-URP!"
By the time we got into the Grove, tied up and I got into the hotel, it
was nearly midnight. The regular eateries were closed; the bars that sold
food had already closed their kitchens. This was bad, really bad. No,
it was a terrible situation. It was Saturday night. I wanted to imbibe
in fermented yeasty, malted beverages. It would not be good on a totally
empty stomach. There was one place called JR's that still had a pot of
soup. I snarfed down three bowls of it along with a ton of crackers. Since
then I have tried to always make sure that I had a stash of food with
me.
Packing a lunch doesn't mean that we don't partake of some of the fare
available at restaurants and diners along and near the right of way though.
Just on the CNIC alone, I, along with many others have sampled the offerings
of the numerous wayside eateries.
We often get held at 21st Street or 16th Street in Chicago during the
morning and afternoon commuter rush. Metra operates their Southwest Service
(former Norfolk Southern) route over NS's Chicago Line, which crosses
us at 21st Street. Metra's Rock Island District crosses us at 16th Street
just east of the 21st Street crossing. When the rush periods start, there
is a curfew that prohibits cross moves on the CNIC line. If we hit either
of these locations at the right time, we sit for an hour and a half or
more.
Having spent many the morning or afternoon into evening sitting at either
one of these locations, we have had the opportunity to seek out places
to dine. In fact, I keep menus from a couple of these places in my grip.
Should we get caught here, a quick phone call to place the order and a
run by the Conductor to pick the food up can render us a fresh cooked,
hot meal.
There is a place called Lawrence's Fisheries that gets many railroaders
calling upon them. Lawrence's is open all day and all of the night. Hmm,
sounds just like an old Kinks song. They have a great hot sauce to put
on their seafood too.
This area is also on the north end of Chinatown. One of the many great
contributions the Chinese culture has made to the world is their outstanding
interpretation of the culinary art. And as it would happen, I am quite
fond of their cuisine. There have been several trips made in recent months
to one of the fine Chinese restaurants to garner a delicious and healthy
meal.
I have mentioned calling Aurelio's Pizza in Homewood and placing an order
to pick up. We run right next to their place and often have to stop right
by the carry out entrance. It gets no better than this. Many a railroader
has placed an order with Aurelio's for pick up and stopped right there
to run in and pick it up.
Now I have never done it, but I know more than one railroader who has
ordered a pizza and had it delivered to the train. They say it sometimes
takes a little explaining and persuading to accomplish this feat. I'm
sure if I was at the order-taking end of such a call; I too would be skeptical.
As we head south out of Markham, there is a gyros and hot dog stand in
Richton Park about a quarter mile west of the tracks. In Bourbonnais we
have a little variety. There is a Burger King and a White Castle within
a half mile on the east side of the tracks where we are often held. In
Bradley there is a hot dog stand just east of the tracks at a place we
are frequently held as well.
Further south in Ashkum, there is a BP station that has a pizza shop.
It is one of those stores that uses a convection oven and can cook them
quickly. They also have sandwiches there as well.
Gilman is full of places to eat. In past columns I have referred to Gilman
as the fast food capitol of the world. Along U.S. Route 24 where we are
often held coming north, there is a plethora of places in which to dine.
No less than seven different choices of restaurants. Most of them are
fast food joints, but there is the K&H Truck Stop which has pretty
good food. At one time, the IC and ICG used to feed crews en route and
the food came from the K&H.
Down the line in Paxton are two choices, Just Hamburgers and Casey's.
Just Hamburgers has much more than hamburgers. In fact, they have a pretty
good grilled pork tenderloin sandwich. Casey's is one of those convenience
store/gas station affairs. They have pizza by the slice, and various hot
and deli style sandwiches there as well.
One evening while heading south, we were put into the siding at Paxton.
Chicago South informed us we would be there for at least two trains. Our
day was getting late Conductor Rich Stevens and I decided to run up the
hill to Just Hamburgers. We figured this would be dinner instead of going
out once we tied up at Champaign. This place is only open a few hours
at lunch time and again at dinner time. Luck was with us as it was still
twenty minutes before they closed up for the evening.
About two minutes after we place our orders and pay for them, the resplendent
voice of Mike Christofore, the Desk Two Dispatcher comes booming across
the ether of Rich's radio looking for us. Oh, oh, that can only mean one
thing, he changed his mind and now he wants to run us. I reached for my
phone and called him immediately. As luck would have it, he answered on
the second or third ring instead of me getting the interruption message
thanking me for calling the CNIC Desk Two Dispatcher and that all the
lines are busy. I explained to Mike that I was "off the engine"
and that it would be a couple of minutes before I could get back.
He laughed and told me he understood. He said he forgot that when they
tell us we are going to be there for awhile that we sometimes go for "a
little walk." He told me that he changed his mind and he would move
us to Rantoul upon our return to the train. Fortunately, the food was
ready in just a couple of minutes and soon we were heading south out of
the siding again.
There are a couple of places to eat in Rantoul, but they are a bit of
a walk and I have not tried them. Several others have and tell me they
are both pretty decent.
Once in Champaign, there are numerous choices of eateries. Right across
from the yard office is a large forge. They have a restaurant there that
has a decent variety of food. They are only open at certain times when
the forge is open. Near the south end of the yard is The Seaboat. They
have "The Delicious Seaboat Sandwich" which is loaded with an
ocean of fish. They also have excellent, cooked to order fried chicken.
There are several favorites in which I frequent in Champaign as well.
One of my favorites is a little barbeque stand called Po Boys. It is only
open Fridays and Saturdays. They have a very small menu but it is outstanding
barbeque including excellent ribs. I always choose the hot sauce which,
like their others, is home made. It generally has a great kick to it.
I prefer hot and spicy food and frequently tell folks I like it when my
food bites me back.
A great Mexican place called Dos Riales features a killer salsa made with
cilantro. I can practically make a meal out of it and tortilla chips.
They also do a great chicken dish called pollo a la parilla, my personal
favorite menu item there. And again, we make it spicier by adding hot
sauce. And this is real Mexican served by folks who don't speak a lot
of English. It is not one of those chains that feature pre-packaged re-heat
meal joints.
The Ribeye is outstanding for a good steak dinner, Dom's is the best Italian
in Central Illinois and Peking Garden is terrific, real Chinese cuisine.
One Conductor I worked with several years ago (who is presently outside
of railroading) once told my friend Jon Roma and I after we took him out
for quite the meal, "Man, you guys really know how to eat."
Yes we do, yes we do.
In my days at Metra, I used to periodically work the South Chicago Loop.
This was the job that looped back and forth all evening on the South Chicago
District. At some point in the evening, we would call one of several places
and order dinner just before we left the station at 91st and Baltimore
to begin our trip north. At one place (cannot remember which one it was)
the girl would come right out to the train when we pulled up there and
bring us our food. I think it was either the rib joint or the chicken
joint. To the places that didn't offer trackside delivery, the Assistant
Conductor would make the quick dash over to get the food while we sat
there waiting. These places knew us well and always had the goodies ready
for us.
While at Guilford, we used to switch a feed mill on this local I worked
several times. We would stop and talk to them to get everything disconnected
and any equipment cleared first. The guy who ran the place would let us
use his truck and run into town to a diner there and get lunch. We would
eat a nice hot lunch and flirt with the waitresses, pay the bill and head
on back. The mill got switched and we went on our merry way. And everybody,
including the customer was happy.
Another time, we went dead while working a local. The cab driver could
not find us. We sat for almost two hours while this guy searched high
and low across the New England countryside looking for us. By the time
he reached us, we were about hungry enough to eat our boots. We asked
if he knew of any place decent to stop for a meal. He suggested a place
that had a great meatball sandwich. So off we went. Again though, it was
like a game of hide and seek, as it seems he drove all across the states
of New Hampshire and Maine to find it.
We managed to discover it and all went in for a meal. As it would happen,
this place also sold beer. Now I should mention that even though we were
dead on the hours of service, Rule G, the drug and alcohol rule was still
in effect. We discussed the situation and decided that one or two beers
would not be so bad, especially if everybody followed my lead and loaded
their sandwiches with lots of hot peppers and onions. I was younger (and
single) in those days and far more wild than I am now. (This grown up
stuff is not all that it is cracked up to be). And being that we were
not going to be getting on any trains and operating them, we decided to
live on the edge.
We tied up with no problems and no eyebrows raised. I suppose the fact
that we didn't come staggering in singing a rousing course of "How
dry I am" had nobody too concerned about us. In fact, the only thing
even mentioned was the fact the cab driver got lost and couldn't find
us for so long. I called the Dispatcher on the phone to tie up while the
Conductor did his paperwork with the Clerk. He asked what time the cab
finally arrived and if we stopped to eat when they found us. I told him
yes, as we were about to waste away from hunger. He laughed and commented
that he would have been amazed and thought we were insane if I told him
no.
Some railroads used to feed the boys en route. MoPac used to feed the
guys working south out of Salem, IL all the time. The crews working south
to Poplar Bluff, MO or Paragould, AR used to have long runs, 199 or 254
miles respectively, oftentimes twelve hours. They had an agreement that
provided for on the road meals. The food was picked up by the train crews
from a stand (sort of like a train order stand) with platforms on it to
hold containers with the food in them. I never worked out of Salem, but
did manage to make trip there once to see the place. A few guys I knew
who worked out of there told me all about this little benefit.
Now for the "eat and run" play. Being that we do not have to
hold a steering wheel or have to hold one or both hands constantly on
some type of controller, we have both hands free. This allows for us to
be able to have a bite to eat while running the engine. Most control stands
have an area where you can place food items. This makes life easy, as
you don't have to play balancing act with your food. I like fresh veggies
with dip, so I can place my little container of dip on the control stand
with the bag of veggies next to it and munch away. I can eat my entire
lunch over the course of a trip should I want to. While this is not generally
one of the finer methods of dining, it is eating just the same. And believe
me, there are worse ways to eat. I know because I have done them.
Like many other railroaders, I have taken supping on the train to a higher
level. I "cook" my food. Using the electric sidewall heaters
or the expansion (cooling water) tank in the engine room, I can heat up
my dinner. Sometimes I bring leftovers from home wrapped in aluminum foil.
Or I can just wrap a sandwich (or the beautiful bride wraps it for me
if she makes my lunch) in foil and heat it up in the methods described.
I also bring canned soup or chili to heat up in the wintertime. Or I bring
dry soup mix and heat up water and mix it into a bowl I carry.
Probably one of the most unusual situations in procuring food while on
duty occurred back when I was with Wisconsin Central. We were told the
by East End Dispatcher John Busa that we would be held at Wheeling for
at least an hour. John suggested we might want to go get a cup or something.
So we stopped short of heading into the siding just short of a road crossing.
Conductor Brian Kruger and I decided to walk over to the nearby Burger
King for a bite to eat. As it would happen, the walk up window inside
was closed. All that was open was the drive through. So, we proceeded
up to the menu board at the drive through and stepped on the hose to alert
the attendant. He came on the speaker and we proceeded to place our food
orders.
We then walked up to the window and waited for the guy to collect our
money and give us the food. He looked shocked and asked where our car
was. Brian pointed towards the train sitting just west of the road crossing
and said, "Right over there." I then commented that it was a
little too high and wide to fit into the drive through lane. The guy seemed
shocked and said he never had anybody walk through the drive through lane
before. I guess there truly is a first for everything and we were part
of that one.
In Canada, it is required on CN and Canadian Pacific to have hot plates
with a tea or coffeepot on their locomotives. When we get these units,
the hot plate becomes the stove. CN has a collective bargaining agreement
that requires a microwave oven be available for crews working interdivisional
runs. When such units come to the U.S., the microwaves come with. They
are quite handy dandy items to have. Many guys now carry microwave popcorn,
tea bags and hot cocoa mix in their grips in the event we get a CN unit
in the consist. The units CN has assigned to the CNIC usually get their
microwaves removed and the hot plates disconnected. I guess they feel
we're not worthy. The ex LMS and KCS units we now use have no such amenities
on them, just the telltale indications of where they used to be mounted.
The CN Geeps assigned to us for yard and local service had their hot plates
disconnected. While they remain in place, they now sit there totally useless.
The hot plates also come in handy to create some humidity. Locomotive
cabs get extremely dry in the winter as the forced air heaters remove
any and all humidity from the air. I have been known to fill the coffee
or teapot with water and heat it up on the hot plate to produce some humidity
for the cab.
I have worked with guys over the years that carry percolator coffeepots
with them. They can make fresh coffee all night long. The locomotives
use a 74v DC system instead of the standard 110v system like your homes
(if you live in North America), so the pots are slower to get the water
hot and perk. They will also perk constantly, as the temperature never
reaches the maximum to stop the perking process. What they do simply unplug
the pot, reach in and remove the basket, place the top back on and plug
it back in to keep the java hot.
Some guys carry rations of food in their grips in case of emergency. They
will have canned fruit, soup, chili and the like with them constantly
in case something happens. Don't laugh, I've heard plenty of stories of
crews being stuck on trains for over 24 hours. I once was on duty 18 hour
and 15 minutes one night on the MoPac owing to a snowstorm closing the
roads. We went dead and they could not get a cab to us as everything was
shut down. They had to run a lite engine to come and retrieve us; otherwise
we would have been stuck there for hours more.
It seems that oftentimes, we are held at locations akin to the middle
of nowhere. No convenience store/gas stations, restaurants or diners,
just corn or bean fields. Or a small town late in the evening where the
sidewalks are rolled up and put away each night at 2200 hours. We comment
about how this or that spot would be a great place to open up a hot dog
stand or something to cater to railroaders stopped there waiting on meets.
And this is why I carry a twelve-hour lunch.
