I was recently talking with my good buddy who lives in California's central valley. He's also a retired Santa Fe Road Foreman, and the subject of fog came up. With more housing being built around Bakersfield, Fresno, and Sacramento, the warm roofs are reducing the amount of fog. My friend remembered going an entire week in -- or just under -- thick fog. We used to get really heavy fog at night, and sometimes during the day, on the Los Angeles Division, where I was an Engineer. People here in the midwest have a different concept of what constitutes heavy fog, than I do.
Talking with my old friend about fog reminded me of a trip I made as an Engineer on a San Diegan around 1980. At Los Angeles, it was foggy, but not coastal foggy. Visibility was as much as a quarter of a mile. We left L.A.U.P.T. and proceeded out of the city. When we reached Los Nietos the fog had increased to minimum visibility, with block signals only visible for 1 or 2 seconds as we passed them. We ran that passenger train the rest of the way to San Diego -- over 100 miles -- at 90 MPH, met 2 opposing trains on single track, and made 5 passenger stops with less than 200 feet of visibility. The train crews on passenger trains did not have radios and everything behind the engine was in the thick fog, so the Conductor used the communicating whistle to give a highball after each passenger stop. They managed to get the passengers on and off, and we made a pretty good trip, on-time most of the way. In that kind of fog, you have to keep the side window open and listen for sounds that help you know where you are, in addition to watching for line-side things like signs, signals, battery boxes, etc. Dimming the headlight just before passing a block signal helps to ensure that you can clearly see its color. Fog like that was routine on the Fourth District, but rarely did it cover the railroad for 100 continuous miles.
The purpose of this post is not to brag (because the other crews out there on that day were doing the same thing) but to remember that, not all that long ago, there was an expectation that an Engineer would keep himself prepared to operate whatever kind of engine was assigned, no matter what kind of air brake equipment it was equipped with, on any train they could cobble together, in any weather short of a hurricane or tornado, and get the job done without complaining or asking for help. Trainmen would be expected to know where to spot cars on spur tracks, make minor repairs to disabled cars to get them off of the main line, keep track of meeting points and speed, and all employees were expected to know the railroad in the dark, rain, fog, snow, sandstorms, and any other impediment to visibility.
I miss that kind of railroading.
