Bliss Tower

Krispy wrote,

Bliss would re-open occasionally for special occasions and except for the commute (last exit of the LIE) I enjoyed the job. Several excellent deli's nearby and a relatively quiet job. If the job was open via General Notice we had a pair of traffic signal lights we'd put out on 1 and 2 track facing West at the limits of Bliss, with a toggle switch to go from red to green. S Cards would get you East. Only thing was the constant tractor trailers would just fly out of control down the ramp and just nearly miss the crossing gate stanchions. Sometimes they didn't miss and the maintainer was lucky it would be just the gates. You had to be real careful where you parked your car.

I can remember Bliss being open I think around 2000 for a summer track work program. Weird scenario to get permission out of Fresh Pond.IIRC, you would have to call Jay Tower to get permission out of Fresh Pond, then call Bliss to get permission to cross from Montauk track 2 to Montauk 1. I can remember those funny temporary manual block signals that did indeed look like traffic lights close to the ground. That was your signal from lower Montauk to the Montauk Cutoff when Bliss was open. Those guys who worked Jay tower were sometimes really senior and had a good sense of humor. O'neal and Hayes are two names that come to mind. A few of the retired freight conductors said Bliss would be open for 2 shifts and when they would come down with a long freight at night it was a pain to line switch and climb the cutoff for Yard A? I can remember the LIRR signal maintainer said he purposely kept the crossing gate bulbs loose for a quick fix with the trucks constantingly hitting them on the Lower Montauk near Maspeth and LIC.

Greetings handsome! Ah, I'm sticking to beer, the breakfast of champions. Happy holidays!

Cabin M and DB were not operator jobs, at least from what I heard, it was always B&B. They would do it and do so by calling and asking for a block (from Jay, as this was after Bliss closed as a full time job) on both secondaries, as you had to open both bridges for a move. This had to be coordinated with the freight, LIC yardmaster and 204, as there was still several equipment moves, 2741 after lunch, etc. Control was done locally, even after the fire. Marine traffic was very rare during my time, and I owned jobs at Jay on all three tours. I can't imagine what it was like "back in the day", when the place was hopping, and I heard of horror stories dealing with the long freights that used to be common. I do recall one move with the bogies and Bliss was open temporarily, and it took forever for a move to be made to Yard A. They had the speed restriction and they was a few bosses sweating them staying on the rail while being shoved up the hill, and the dispatcher was sweating whether or not to route things via the Mainline. Wonder if the bogies are still on that switching lead.

On a normal basis, S Cards were used in both directions and honestly it was a little hard to pick up at first, especially for some of the wierd moves, like turning an engine, having someone work Triplex (remember walking the light out there one time and being ankle deep in plastic beads by that place) in addition to the normal moves in and out of LIC. There was different methods used in different time periods too, including getting permission east from the Yard A yardmaster or clerk, and earlier than that I'm not sure.

Freightguy - we've probably spoken then "on the clock". I was with one of those names one night at Jay when the fire occurred and remember how cold the draft through the ancient windows was, and can figure out why the fire occurred (someone seeking shelter, too cold for your average arson) The other one had been on the roster for years and was one heck of an operator, just a tad sharp tongued. I agree, it was a little wacky with those special programs and we learned quickly to make sure everyone knew who to call. Can't imagine how all of that is now gone, I was lucky to see it.

Thanks for the update... good info!

Great thread and info.

Good topic guys, thanks for the help..

So if I am understanding right, Bliss controlled from just East of Pulaski Bridge (at the Begin Secondary Sign) to just East of the Triplex (Allied Extruders) siding.

East of there, it goes under control of Jay?

Krispy, I sent you a PM..

And for the record, here is one of the temporary traffic lights..

Here's a couple scans of the block sheets from Bliss I was talking about. I have 3 or 4 books but not enough time to scan every sheet.

[quote="freightguy"]Krispy wrote,
"... A few of the retired freight conductors said Bliss would be open for 2 shifts and when they would come down with a long freight at night it was a pain to line switch and climb the cutoff for Yard A? ..."


Brakeman throwing the switch west of Bliss

Similar to this type of activity?

Nice pics - the block sheets was actually a book printed by the company, you'd open it and then rotate it, top page would be west, bottom would be east. This was from one of the special programs when Bliss was open by GN. Normally it would be done from Jay, and we used the same book, but I'd divide the eastward time cleared column in half and write No 2 over 1 side. That would be the time clear of Bliss, the second of when they cleared the branch (Maspeth, Pond, Jay, etc.) I'd also write the name and repeat time in the comments in case we couldn't find the pad later. The check marks indicate that the times were reported to the Dispr. Second pic of the sheet is from an excellent operator who's a real character now at Divide, no mistaking that clear handwriting.

To answer Dauntless's question, when Bliss was open back in the day or for a special program, They "owned" the secondaries and all of No 2 up to Jay's limit. And Jay "owned" No 1 all the way up to the Begin Secondary sign. So, if you were at Pond and wanted to come out, you had to call Bliss first. After the tower closed and Jay controlled everything, I was taught that the Sec B (now a different dispr controls that zone) Dispr "owned" the secondaries and No 2, so I I wanted to do something at Jay, I had to ask him first - which is what I would have to do anyways but it just reinforced the concept of having to use 2 persons as a check and balance.

Happy holidays y'all!

I think the Montauk Cutoff is slated to close within the next couple years and the few freight costumers left will be moved a little west of where the photo was taken.