The switch key
Jim L. Rueber
Rex Beach was a long time CGW employee working in train service between St
Paul and Oelwein. One day about 1955 he was called with Conductor Brinkman to
work as head brakeman on a Troop Train handling the Iowa National Guard
returning from Camp Rippley, Minnesota enroute to Des Moines, Iowa. They
picked up 2 "F" units at State Street Yard and went over to the St Paul Union
Depot to connect with the 8 car Pullman train coming in on the Northern
Pacific. At the Union Depot CGW Business Car 99 with then Vice President E.
T. Reidy and party was added to the rear end of the train to be set out at
Oelwein. It was agreed that rear brakeman Len Morrill would ride in the rear
Pullman car and Conductor Brinkman and Rex Beach would ride in the head Pullman
car right behind the engine. Conductor Brinkman called the train dispatcher in
Oelwein from the Union Depot and told him where the crew would be riding and
to have the operators hand up 3 sets of all train orders.
Rex was down on the steps of the head Pullman when they went by South St Paul
but the operator never handed up any orders to him. When Rex went back into
the car and told Conductor Brinkman he told him to go back to the rear car and get
the orders from Lennie Morrill. Rex started back through the cars but the
National Guard guys were stretched out in the aisles and some had make shift
tables set up playing cards so it took Rex a long time to get back to the rear
Pullman and back up to the head end. Their train was already by Randolph by
the time he got back. At Dodge Center the board was out and the operator was
there to hand up orders but again he never held up any for Rex standing on the
steps of the head Pullman. Conductor Brinkman said to forget it as it was too
much trouble to try to go back through the cars again.
At Elkton, Minnesota they had to take siding for freight train No 42. The
siding at Elkton at that time was not very long and so was seldom used. They
decided they would pull in far enough to clear the main line and then back out
as the south end of the siding was overgrown with tall weeds. Soon No 42 went
flying by and they saw brakeman Morrill with his lantern go back to line the
switch for the siding so they could back out. They never received a back up
signal and soon saw brakeman Morrill walking back to the train and then after
a few minutes he went walking back to the switch and the block signal changed
to green and he gave them a back up sign. When they got to Oelwein and
brakeman Morrill joined them in the Yard Office Conductor Brinkman asked Morrill
what the hell was going on back there at Elkton. Brakeman Morrill said "I
forgot my switch key when I left home and I went back to the car 99 to see if
anybody had a switch key and Ed Reidy loaned me his key so I could unlock the
switch".
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Copyright 1998,99 Tom Tolstead
