Bonus Post - Birthday report

When I sent out the lists for the Feb exchange, I invited people to send me a birthday envelope addressed to Viola - because I was going to her 99th birthday party on Feb 22nd. Viola is my BigHelpfulBrother's mother-in-law.

The envelopes, and some included cards, are wonderful and Viola really enjoyed them. I know it will be fun for her to have them to look at and take to show-and-tell at her assisted living home. They are all scheduled to show up in April but I wanted to let the people who sent mail know how much it added to the event.

I wish I had a video of Viola telling us the story of her first job. She worked for the railroad in Louisiana. Job title: Train Order Operator. She said she was 22, so that must have been 1942. At the time, the railroads had only one track to be shared by trains going in both directions. There were sidings where trains had to pull off to let opposing trains pass. Clearly, running into each other would have been a mess.

So, there were people hired to pass a note to the engineer to let him know when it was his turn to pull off on a siding. The note was attached to a long pole and people like Viola had to go out and stand right next to the track and the engineer would stick his hand out the window and grab the note. The train would slow down - but it was still moving as the engineer grabbed the note. Viola said it was scary standing so close to a moving train.

Viola even worked the graveyard shift. She took a bus to her outpost, started at midnight, and worked until 8 am.  Her supervisor suggested she take a gun since she'd be out there by herself in the middle of nowhere. Lucky for Viola, her mom had a gun she could borrow.

I'm not making this up.

At this point, Viola giggled and said there was no way she could have shot anyone. Eventually she became a station agent and I am looking forward to hearing more about that job.

If you are curious about Train Order Operators, here are a couple links with more info. I need to do some more research and find out who the person was who said, "You know, it would be really helpful if we laid a second track.

Wiki article

Here is a second article that even discusses the penmanship on the notes.

http://trn.trains.com/railroads/abcs-of-railroading/2006/05/train-orders


A line from the article:
Telegraphers' script, a beautiful, flowing, but legible handwriting, was the trademark of an operator who had learned his trade in the days of the Morse telegraph schools (named for the device's inventor, Samuel F.B. Morse). 

Today's regular post is right below.