Soo Line and DW&P Transfer Runs at Rice's Point in Duluth, Minnesota October 1976
The Soo Line had a number of switch and transfer jobs that went on duty each day and all of them started at the Soo's 21st Street roundhouse at their Belknap Street Yard in Superior. Here's a pic that I shot from the air showing their roundhouse, which is of course, completely gone today: www.flickr.com/photos/jeff_lemke/25712447625/in/album-721...
The Soo's "quit jobs" started at 7am, 3pm and 11pm each day. They worked the yards at Stinson and Belknap in Superior. But Soo 408 isn't on one of those quit jobs. It's on one of the heavy-lifting jobs that Soo ran. These were called the "59 Jobs" that started at 7:59am, 3:59pm, and 11:59pm.
Soo men working these 59 Jobs made sure they worked past a minimum of 9 hours to be able to receive a 30 minute bonus for working over 9 hours without a meal period. When the 59s weren't doing yard to yard transfers and industry work they would also work the switch lead at Stinson Yard in Superior as required. But mostly, that work was done by the quit jobs. The main function of these 59 Jobs was to run transfers to, 1) Connor's Point in Superior; 2) Rice's Point in Duluth; 3) the West Duluth connection with the DW&P Railway.
When running to the Minnesota side from Stinson or Belknap the Soo trains ran via Grassy Point draw bridge, though on occasion they would use the Wisconsin and Minnesota draws. They spotted cars along their line at West Duluth, Clyde Iron Works, Cleaning Fluid, the Beer Depot, and the Tastee bakery. They also handled furniture cars. Sometimes they used the cross-over to the Missabe Yard and Missabe Junction and/or spotted the Soo Freight House on Railroad Street in Duluth. They also made transfer moves to and from the NP yard in West Duluth. In addition, the 59s could gather RIPs and any other cars at 21st Street yard (Belknap) and bring them back to Stinson, but this was usually done by the 3:59 Job. These were the Soo jobs that worked 12-16 hours (depending on the era) on a regular basis, while the jobs that started on the hour (the quit jobs) did their daily eight hours and went home.
This particular shot shows one of these 59 Jobs at Rice's Point with, coincidentally, a DW&P transfer just behind it showing up with a train destined for Bridge Yard.
Jack Peterson helped me to figure out all of the Soo jobs that ran in the Twin Ports as he worked for the Soo for many years, and the Great Northern prior to that. The one thing thing in this photo that stuck out in his mind was that although derailments happened, if you had the misfortune to derail or pick the points on that NP slip switch in the foreground, you could expect the FULL wrath to come down on you from the NP (and subsequently, your own trainmasters), as that was THE most important switch (and most expensive to repair) on the north end of Rice's Point yard.
Otherwise, much like today, if the trainmasters don't despise you (for your work habits or personal characteristics) then derailing a car or two really isn't/wasn't much of a big deal at all. That is the way it is, and always has been, on the railroad. It's not just about kissing ass. It's entirely about knowing where and when NOT to have an issue that involves a trainmaster. If you don't understand that fact about railroading, then your career on the rails will surely be painful, if not short-lived.
In Duluth, this slip switch was THE place NOT to derail a car or locomotive. The guys who "got it", understood that fact of railroad life in the Twin Ports. The guys who didn't get it, were unemployed, and spent much of their time drinking at a local bar.
Seriously, it was just that simple.
Soo Line and DW&P Transfer Runs at Rice's Point in Duluth, Minnesota October 1976
The Soo Line had a number of switch and transfer jobs that went on duty each day and all of them started at the Soo's 21st Street roundhouse at their Belknap Street Yard in Superior. Here's a pic that I shot from the air showing their roundhouse, which is of course, completely gone today: www.flickr.com/photos/jeff_lemke/25712447625/in/album-721...
The Soo's "quit jobs" started at 7am, 3pm and 11pm each day. They worked the yards at Stinson and Belknap in Superior. But Soo 408 isn't on one of those quit jobs. It's on one of the heavy-lifting jobs that Soo ran. These were called the "59 Jobs" that started at 7:59am, 3:59pm, and 11:59pm.
Soo men working these 59 Jobs made sure they worked past a minimum of 9 hours to be able to receive a 30 minute bonus for working over 9 hours without a meal period. When the 59s weren't doing yard to yard transfers and industry work they would also work the switch lead at Stinson Yard in Superior as required. But mostly, that work was done by the quit jobs. The main function of these 59 Jobs was to run transfers to, 1) Connor's Point in Superior; 2) Rice's Point in Duluth; 3) the West Duluth connection with the DW&P Railway.
When running to the Minnesota side from Stinson or Belknap the Soo trains ran via Grassy Point draw bridge, though on occasion they would use the Wisconsin and Minnesota draws. They spotted cars along their line at West Duluth, Clyde Iron Works, Cleaning Fluid, the Beer Depot, and the Tastee bakery. They also handled furniture cars. Sometimes they used the cross-over to the Missabe Yard and Missabe Junction and/or spotted the Soo Freight House on Railroad Street in Duluth. They also made transfer moves to and from the NP yard in West Duluth. In addition, the 59s could gather RIPs and any other cars at 21st Street yard (Belknap) and bring them back to Stinson, but this was usually done by the 3:59 Job. These were the Soo jobs that worked 12-16 hours (depending on the era) on a regular basis, while the jobs that started on the hour (the quit jobs) did their daily eight hours and went home.
This particular shot shows one of these 59 Jobs at Rice's Point with, coincidentally, a DW&P transfer just behind it showing up with a train destined for Bridge Yard.
Jack Peterson helped me to figure out all of the Soo jobs that ran in the Twin Ports as he worked for the Soo for many years, and the Great Northern prior to that. The one thing thing in this photo that stuck out in his mind was that although derailments happened, if you had the misfortune to derail or pick the points on that NP slip switch in the foreground, you could expect the FULL wrath to come down on you from the NP (and subsequently, your own trainmasters), as that was THE most important switch (and most expensive to repair) on the north end of Rice's Point yard.
Otherwise, much like today, if the trainmasters don't despise you (for your work habits or personal characteristics) then derailing a car or two really isn't/wasn't much of a big deal at all. That is the way it is, and always has been, on the railroad. It's not just about kissing ass. It's entirely about knowing where and when NOT to have an issue that involves a trainmaster. If you don't understand that fact about railroading, then your career on the rails will surely be painful, if not short-lived.
In Duluth, this slip switch was THE place NOT to derail a car or locomotive. The guys who "got it", understood that fact of railroad life in the Twin Ports. The guys who didn't get it, were unemployed, and spent much of their time drinking at a local bar.
Seriously, it was just that simple.