Conrail OCS Surprise Assignment

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While the Conrail OCS train operated on a fairly tight and well defined schedule, many times the engineers who would operate the train were often in for a surprise when the train rolled into the station. The Road Division Foreman often took his fair share of time at the throttle of the Conrail E8As, but there was still a passenger train qualified engineer assigned to the train.  In the story below by Douglas Kydd, he shares his experience of the Conrail OCS surprise assignment in 1998. Thanks for sharing, Douglas!

July 08, 1998
“I had no idea what I had been called for”
Douglas Kydd

During most of the 1990s, I was working for Amtrak as an extra board engineer, answering miscellaneous calls to run passenger trains between Boston, MA, New Haven, CT, and Springfield, MA. On July 8, 1998, I was told to report to South Station at 7:00 to cover job symbol EXK-ACXO. I was further told that the work for today would be simply a protection service. This was interpreted by myself to mean that train number 66, the eastbound Twilight Shoreliner was running very late and its New Haven based crew would probably not be able to make the turnaround for their morning westbound return train back to New Haven. Under the circumstances, the protect crew, to which I was assigned, would most likely be there to make sure that the westbound train (number 173?) assigned to 66’s crew would indeed have a crew to take it out of Boston. The trains would stop en route wherever we met, swap crews, and I would take number 66 back to Boston. That was what I THOUGHT. What was in store for me that day was quite different.

Upon showing up at South Station, I heard rumors that the Conrail OCS train, running a train for Operation Lifesaver, was coming to Boston, and it would be our job to pilot the unqualified Conrail crew between Boston’s Back Bay Station and South Station. I began to think. If the gods were smiling on me today, the train would have the OCS assigned E8A locomotives. It was known however, that Conrail had occasionally assigned less glamorous locomotives, such as GE U Boats to the train. My fears were relieved when I walked up to the crew sign up desk and saw some scribblings on the blackboard of the crew base supervisor. The scribblings read something like: “CR OCS / Pilot crew, engines 4020-4021, Engineer qualified on 24-RL air brake?”. Those scribblings told me exactly what I wanted to know!

The crew base supervisor (not an operating department man but someone from the food and beverage department) asked, “Are you qualified on 24-RL brake?”.

I decided to have some fun with the examiner and work with both carefully chosen words, and body/facial language. I allowed my eyes to twinkle, my face to light up, and myself to smile in a manner only known when I’m laughing at one of my own stupid jokes. “Yes,” I said, “I was raised on 24-RL. Do you know what 24-RL is?”

The supervisor responded that he didn’t have a clue. “It means that the locomotives on the special are about a year older than I am, and almost as old as you, and that I am going to have a few minutes of fun today.”

The supervisor further explained my assignment: My conductor (a youthful Chuck Amaru) and I would deadhead on Train 171 out to Back Bay Station where we would await the arrival of the OCS, which was backing into Boston from the nearby Beacon Park yard in Allston. We would pilot the train into South Station and out to Back Bay again. Following that, the train would make a 194 mile round trip out to Springfield, after which we would be required to once again pilot the train in and out of South Station. It was recommended that we remain on the train for the round trip to Springfield, avail ourselves to the hot and cold buffet served aboard, and enjoy a relaxing ride in the country. We quickly agreed.

Eventually, the special backed into Back Bay, with the yet unrecognized car Conrail 10 leading the ten car train which was being shoved by Conrail E8As 4021 and 4020. The leading platform of CR 10 (ex PC 30) stopped at our feet to let the conductor pilot on. With the conductor pilot onboard, the train then shoved eastward, exactly one train length, stopping with the lead locomotive at my feet. I climbed aboard the 4021, introduced myself to the engineer, and took over the controls. Five minutes later, we were in South Station loading up a trainload of passengers.

Much of the train’s invited passenger list read like a who’s who of local railfans, luminaries and otherwise. Most of them were there not officially as fans, but had used their other professional titles to obtain invitee status. Some of these titles may have included “Manager of such-and-such in the Department of Public Works in the Town of So-and-So” or “Newscaster for Radio Channel W-Closet-Foamer-Today”. It was funny to watch this impromptu reunion of railfans who had known each other as fellow railfans for decades, touting their “titles” and supposed reasons for being there. I knew better, they were foaming! The funny thing was that I was the only foamer there who woke up that morning not knowing I was going to be on the special, much less running its locomotive!

In due time, the special was ready to depart Boston on time, which we did. Five minutes and 1.3 miles later, my official duties were done for several hours so I surrendered the engineer’s seat to the Conrail engineer and retreated to the trailing cab of the 4020 for the rest of the westbound trip. Conrail OCS E8As 4021 and 4020 were certainly no strangers to me. I knew them as Amtrak engines 499 and 498, previous to that: as Amtrak 317 and 315. I had worked behind both of them as a passenger trainman on the B&M when I owned the flagman’s job on B&M Trains 733 and 732, the Amtrak Montrealer nearly twenty years previously. On Christmas morning, 1978, I rode the cab of the 499 from Greenfield (MA) Station to Silver Street (Greenfield) in between tasks of digging snow out of switches at those locations. In January 1979, the 498 was one of two locomotives hauling the Montrealer, which I was on, when it derailed at Holyoke, MA. Earlier in the seventies, when I was working in signal towers on the Shore Line, I routinely lined up routes for, and hooped up train orders to the 499.

After the 498 and 499 were deemed unneeded by Amtrak in the early 1980s, they were horse traded to Conrail for four badly needed switcher type locomotives. It was a win-win trade for both parties. These two locomotives gained celebrity status, which they shared with another Conrail OCS E8A: number 4022, which was of Erie and Erie Lackawanna lineage. 

Two hours later we arrived at Springfield, where the engines were cut off and run around to the opposite end of the train for the return trip to Boston. With the train now re-assembled, we left Springfield with the train marshalled as follows:

E8A 4020
E8A 4021
Conrail 10 (former PC 30)
Conrail 11
Conrail 8
Conrail 4
Conrail 5
Commuter coaches MBTA 239 and MBTA 225
Conrail 27 (an ex NYC BUDD coach)
Conrail 12
Conrail 9

Rear car Conrail 9 was a theatre car, sort of a modern day high capacity version of the older round end observation car. The entire rear bulkhead was a huge flat screen-like plate glass window. It was the most popular car on the train, next to the food service car.

Upon leaving Springfield, I crawled through the 28” by 45” nose door of the 4021 onto the platform of car CR 10, and took a walking tour of the train, and a bite of lunch. Owing to the numerous familiar faces aboard, this trek took over an hour. I would have spent more time socializing; however, I was uncomfortable at being underdressed. Remember, I had no idea what I was being called for when I accepted the call at 4:30am.

On my way back to the engines, passing through Worcestor, I arrived at the first car (which I didn’t know until later was the old PC 30) where I encountered a very well known and much published railfan photographer and longtime friend Scott Hartley, who some years previously gave me 31 days of fame when he ran a center spread of me on the job in TRAINS magazine. We chatted for a bit, however feeling a bit out of place, not being clad in jacket and tie, and I eventually retreated through the nose door of the trailing E8A to await my next engineer's duties, which would occur at Beacon Park yard, about 25 minutes later.

I took over the helm of E8A 4020 at CP-3 (the east end of Beacon Park yard) and headed through Back Bay Station and through Cove Interlocking. Instead of heading directly into South Station however, we took a sharp right hand turn around the so-called "Y Connector" just as we passed underneath the Southeast Expressway.

Proceeding a few more hundred feet, we traversed the Fort Point Channel, then came to a stop with the train's rear standing roughly at the site of the former Broadway Tower. Next we simply backed the train into South Station for unloading.

Roughly a half hour later, Conductor Amaru (the conductor pilot) and I had one more duty. This was to pilot the now empty office car special from South Station to Back Bay. For this portion, I had Scott Hartley riding in the cab and I believe he remained on the engine after I departed the train at Back Bay. I learned some years later that several people scored cab rides that day, and that was a large part of what the office car specials were all about!

I guess it was an overall great day’s work. My duties after escorting the OCS out to Back Bay concluded with Conductor Amaru and myself deadheading on MBTA Train 720 back to South Station where we went off duty early that evening. 

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If you are interested in Conrail passenger operations, read about how Conrail operated their OCS train, including stories from those with first hand knowledge. Check back soon for other Conrail Office Car articles by Wes Reminder.

Blog post article © copyright 1998-2020 Douglas Kydd. Post thumbnail by H.E Brouse and may not be used in print, web or any other use without permission. Content used with permission from copyright holder and H.E. Brouse’s images used with permission from the Brouse estate.