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From: "Todd Stearns" toddsyr AT twcny DOT rr DOT com
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 2006 19:01:05 -0400
Subject: Re: (erielack) A bad day at Syracuse Engnehouse
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Walter, many many thanks for doing the re-write! I haven't been an ELHTS
member that long so I missed it the first time around. I've seen the
handful of Syracuse EL/DLW photos on the web but have never heard such a
great personal telling of events such as this. It really made my day to hear
a piece of local history. I appreciate the photos you included, the map as
well. They'll be saved in my archives for sure. On May 3, 2006 I was in the
area of your story taking some photos of what's still there. Here's what the
engine house looks like today. The first photo is looking West, the second
is looking Northwest. Todd

> This is a re-write of a story I posted about 3 years ago. I told
Schuyler
> Larrabee that I had fotos to go with some of my stories and with this one
I
> have a track plan showing the former DL&W roundhouse tracks & the NYC
> crossing in the story...........
>
> As Snoopy would say 'It was a dark and gloomy night'.........
> It was the practice of the ERIE-LACKAWANNA as it had been for
their
> predecessor, the DL&W, to run two trains from Syracuse, N.Y. every night
to
> Binghamton and back. The earlier of these 2 trains was designated SB24 and
> was usually on duty at 7:30 PM or so. This job always had 2 GP-9s since it
> was a fairly light train. The other train SB-50 was somewhat heavier and
did
> more work. It, therefore ran with three engines and took a little longer
to
> get over the road. As you can see, this required the roundhouse people to
> assemble the power for these trains prior to the crews coming on duty
which
> meant gathering the several Gps which had been on locals and industrial
jobs
> in the vicinity and checking them for faults and supplies so they'd be
ready
> to go. The night roundhouse foreman was a Mr. William (Bill) Laumeister
who
> was very knowledgable and like most of the DL&W men all business. He was
> ably assisted by the night mechanic Mike O'Brein, who was in his early 20s
> and had just been dischargeid from the US Air Force. I had been in the Air
> Force too and he and I used to sit outside the roundhouse office (in the
> warm weather) and talk about the USAF. When you it outside the roundhouse
> office, you are facing the inbound and outbound tracks, the sand track,
and
> 5 & 6 as well as facing the turntable.
> In order to better understand this story, you should know that the DL&W
> roundhouse is in a depression about 15 feet or so below the level of the
> yard tracks. The New York Central branchline to Auburn which crosses the
> inbound and outbound EL tracks to & from the roundhouse and passes in back
> of it on the way to Auburn from the New York Central's uptown yard which
was
> next to the DL&W yard. There was a tower (Magnolia Street) which sat at
the
> crossing but the crossing was automated and protected by derails and dwarf
> signals and the old white tower served as a reminder of busier times.
Before
> coming to the tower, you passed over a city street on heavy girder
trestles.
> You had to get permission to crossover everytime you came out with power.
> On the night in question, O'Brien and I were sitting outside
enjoying
> a warm night and gazing at the engines - 3 on one track and 2 on the
other.
> At about 8 PM or so, Mr. Laumeister announced his intention to go to the
> nearby Dunkin Donuts for coffee. O'Brien told me that the early crew
(SB24)
> would have to take the three nearest engines up the hill, crossover then
> come back and set one of them on the 2 already on the sand track as power
> for the later traiin (SB-50).
> The early crew arrived and O'Brien went over to go with them for the short
> ride up the hill and across the New York Central after which they'd
reverse
> & come back on the sand track to couple the trailing unit to assemble
> SB-50's power. I hadn't noticed the engineer & headman's unsteady gait as
> they walked to the engines. O'Brien got on the footboards and off they
went.
> I sipped my coffee and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited and HERE
> THEY CAME!!!!! Two GPs sailed down the grade as I sat mesmerized, thinking
> "Now, he'll shut off & take some air", "SURELY NOW he'll shut off and
> brake". To my horror, the engines emitted a flurry of sparks into the
night
> sky as the throttle was advanced and instead of slowing, rushed into the
two
> engines already there with an ear-splitting CRASH. I swear the two GPs
> leaped a foot into the air and smashed back down onto the rails but none
of
> them derailed. A huge cloud of dust rose and the locomotives all shut down
> as knife switches opened along with other safety devices. I saw that
O'brien
> had jumped and rolled in the cinders on the embankment and he and I
> approached the scene. I saw there was oil and water dribbling from all the
> locomotives, and the engineer was slowly crawling down from the cab
showing
> a large wet pee stain all over the front of his coveralls where he'd
voided
> his bladder. He staggered around the front of the roundhouse clutching a
> beercan and saying oudly "This is all my fault. I'm drunk and I'll admit
it.
> *hic* I know I'm drunk."The head brakeman had run away and left the
> property.
> O'Brien said to me "What a mess." I agreed and said "Yeah, I don't
> think you'll be using those engines tonight." O'Brien said "NOOOO, I mean
> the mess on the New York Central crossovers". NOW IT STRUCK
ME..........they
> went up the hill with three engines and came back with two. Where was the
> third engine??? O'Brien enlightened me - they had run through the dwarf
> signals and derials and the engine was laying derailed on thecrossovers. I
> headed up the hill to 'straighten things out' and found the GP groaning
away
> with it's driving wheels mangling rails and shredding ties & ballast. I
went
> up into the cab and found the throttle in #3 AND a half-empty can of
> Carlings Black Label beer sitting on the throttle stand. I shut the
> throttle, set the brakes and threw the beercan out the window. I then
threw
> the drinking water all over the floor and swept out the cab.
> Looking toward town, I saw lanterns coming from the New York Central yard
> office. Time to leave.
> Back at the roundhouse, I found Mr. Laumeister had returned to the
> scene from HELL. The engineer was still staggering around in his
pee-stained
> overhalls mumbling about his being drunk and he now placed his beercan on
> the roof of Mr. Laumeister's new Chrysler. Old Bill dashed it to the
ground
> and yelled,"Get the HELL off the property, you drunken fool!".
> I don't know WHAT they told the New York Central but NO trains ran
> to Binghamton that night. Much later I heard the crew got 10 days off. I
> suppose nowadays they'd have you burned at the stake (with torture first).
>
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