Explain what I saw yesterday. I was waiting on a BNSF train at Carson S.D. Before it got there, a crew van showed up and dropped of a man in a reflective vest. As the train approached slowly the man held his hand up for the train to stop, and it did. The engineer stuck an arm out the window and then the two seemed to play a game ‘how many fingers am I holding up’? The hitchhiker gave signals as the engineer checked lights and horn, like they were at a Jiffy Lube. He got in and after a few minutes the train left.
Is this the opening scene of a slasher movie? Instead of ominous music, the crossing lights and bells went on and off five times while the train was parked.
Naaaaw: it’s either a scene from X-Files 2: Fornicate the Future (special PTC dispatcher’s cut), or it’s Poltergeist 4: The Haunt of Hunter*.
I detect the presence of a 21st Century Gauleiter-class weed weasel… “There’s no need to skulk any more … we’re Out Of The Closet – WEASEL PRIDE! It’s our time!”.
Coming soon, though: Leprechaun 108: The Unsafe Course should Always Be Taken, starring E Hunter Harrison and Paul Hilal. “Where’s me 82 Million???” Watch the OR and the payroll get slashed! Watch employees get screwed to the wall! Watch Cindy Sanborn get the ax! You’ll want to miss it; you’ll want to avert your eyes… but you CAN"T!
Hey, that’s unfair to leprechauns! One of them took over driving for me on a long, long road trip! And no, I wasn’t indulging in some “Tullamore Dew,” I was very tired!
Once I realized what was going on I had him pull into a Holiday Inn so I could get some rest, then he was on his way. [;)]
Wayne, it’s a movie cultural reference. Look up Jennifer Aniston’s film debut, and see what appears across the top of your browser as “Leprechaun / Movies”.
We seem to be almost as close to “107 varieties” of the franchise as we were to the Saturday Night Live parody of … what was it, Rocky XXXIV, where the geriatric boxers try to get out of their wheelchairs before the bell…
Oh, I know about the Jennifer Aniston film, that was unfair to leprechauns! Bloody slanderous, boy-o!
I sure as hell didn’t! [:-^]
Anyway, if you want a good leprechaun movie try “The Luck Of The Irish” from 1948 starring Captain Tyrone Power USMCR (OOO-RAH!), Anne Baxter, and Cecil Kellaway.
Good point, but he was dropped off by a crew van not A BNSF work vehicle. I picture someone from the mech department at least carrying a small tool box. This guy had nothing, not even a clipboard. If it was someone testing the crew, why didn’t he get on the train 5 miles back at thr departing yard?
The fact that he went through the lights, etc, might indicate a test to see if the engineer inspected his steed. All that stuff is supposed to be working when a train leaves its initial terminal - checking it a few miles out would be a test for that. The RFE/DSLE* would then board and do all the other stuff - checking for appropropriate documents, observing train handling, etc.
We’ve seen people dismount from trains at Deshler. Since Deshler is the border between two dispatching districts, it’s possible that the same applies to RFE’s.
Road Foreman of Engines, Designated Supervisor of Locomotive Engineers
Hopefully you have seen it, I seem to recall seeing it myself at another time.
By the way, Lady Firestorm recognized the Mack rig for what it was right away, even before she noticed the locomotive. She’s a firefighter’s daughter all right.
