I have seen this quote "There are several crews (in Colton) that have had experience when steam was the primary mode that powered these trains," said Rod Doerr, superintendent - Los Angeles Service Unit. "
Were they 10 years old when UP hired them?
Now there is a manager that has been smoking the good stuff!
Lets do the math on that statement:
1) The last steam operations on the UP were out of Cheyenne, WY in something like 1958? So the Los Angeles area would have been out of main line steam locomotives in, what no later than 1956/1957?
2) A "steam qualified" promoted Engineer, should have been roughly in his 40s, during the mid 1950s, probably able to hold an Extra Board spot. That would make is age TODAY, at least 995 to 98 YEARS OLD!!! Even allowing for the possibility that the man was in his 30s, during the mid-1950s, would still put him well past 80 YEARS OLD today!
3) Say the man was a Fireman in the mid-1950s, and he was in his 20s. That would STILL make him well past 70 YEARS OLD today!
Now, does that Superintendent honestly believe that the Union Pacific STILL has 70+ to 80+, to 90+ year old men employed? What with the Railroad Retirement policy change, some 8 to 10 years ago, allowing FULL retirement benefits at 60 years of age, with 30+ years of service, why would ANY man well over 70 years old STILL BE WORKING (even if the railroad allowed it)?
