The Denver Rescue Mission, Hobo's etc in Tales of the Jointed Track

I have written about the transients or Hobo’s who rode the rails in my early railroad career. It was more prevalent, before 911, than it is now, but they are still there.

I thought of this, while my wife and I volunteered at the Denver Rescue Mission yesterday. We were involved with food prep and a “first serving”. My wife cut tomatoes, and I was to fill the cut up lettuce, add the diced up tomatoes, dress the salad and add croutons. The serving pans were then, covered with plastic wrap and stored in the cooler. The salad dressing was “Champagne Vinaigrette”. Sounds funny, when serving at the mission, but was the color of the dressing.

The menu:
Mashed potatoes - Chicken Ala King ( mostly a gravy consistency ) -Bread - the Salad- and Desert, which was a combination of Cupcakes, some chocolate cake, and donuts cut in half. Most of the food is donated, or purchased by the Mission. I know that the pastries or desert, were day old, and donated by the supermarket chains.

The first serving was for paid staff, if they chose to eat and the “Step Up” program people. The Step Up, helps train and house those that are trying to get out of dependency and back into society. This is from 445 to 535 pm. Then they shut the roll-up wall and wait till 545 pm. The then allow, the transients and homeless to have a meal. This goes from 545 to 630 pm. We were scheduled for the prep and the initial serving. A second set of volunteers came in at 530 pm and we were excused.

It was an interesting time, and I would certainly do it again. My time seeing and / or interacting with the Hobo’s was a little different on the rails during my forty years.

A vignette, The Hobo and the SD-9:

We were on an extra north. A typical drag and we may or may not have work en route. It was a mixture of two U-33-C’s and three SD-9’s off the fuel track at Pueblo, CO. We were at or near the tonnage rating, and we will be lucky to make 30 or 35 mph across the flats. The “Nines” are drag engines and we’ll get over the top at Palmer Lake. I walked the power at the fuel track. Water levels were checked, especially on the SD-9’s, and I blocked the shutters open on ‘em. They were notorious for overheating during the summer, so I am giving all the extra help I can.

Our “guest” was not on the power, when I went through them, so he must have snuck on during the air test. It was a hot early evening and the sun will be setting soon. It will be a dark run home, that too will be in our favor, because the night air will be cooler.

We left town and crossed over at Bragdon to the northbound main. The caboose highballs us through the crossover and wide open, we are doing 26 mph. It will be about 2 and a half hours to the old Santa Fe, Colorado Springs yard. We are still double track ABS Bragdon to South Denver.

The alarm bells sound if a locomotive shuts down, whether the lead unit or others in the consist. It is “trainlined”, through the jumper cables, electrically connecting, the trailing units, with the controlling locomotive. Well we had one down, and we didn’t know, because we were dragging anyway across the flats, and the alarm bell wasn’t ringing in the lead unit. The alarm bell was bad order in the lead and we didn’t know.

About Wigwam siding MP 99, on the Rio Grande trackage, there is a knock on the cab door. That startled me. I look in the window is a shadowy figure. I crack the door, and ask “What do you need?” The Hobo says, “I hate to bother you, but can you shut off that bell”. I told him “I’ll look it over”. We are not following anybody, the signals are clear and I can see the next two, if circumstances change. The brakeman comes over, to whistle as needed, plus he’s a seasoned rail.

Yep one of the “Nines’ had shut down to low governor oil. I isolated the unit, silencing the alarm. There was a quart plastic oil container filled with governor oil, so, this unit was causing problems elsewhere. Water level was still good, an the engine restarted. The offending unit was placed on line, and I said the bell in the lead is bad, if it sounds off again, come and get one of us.

I told him we will be doubling over at Rice Yard, so we’ll be between, 16th and 18th streets. He’d have to be off there. He said he understood. We made the summit without incident, and yarded the train. The power was placed on 14 track at the house, and we tied up.

Last updated May 04, 2017