But, reaching their car, Joe shook his head.
“Nope. Don’t think so. Not today.”
Jim blinked, baffled and disappointed.
“No? Why not?”
“Because, I’d say you’ve got more important things to tend.”
Joe swung a glance down and across the street, leading his son’s eyes to Lorraine.
She stood dressed in a charcoal suit. The white of her pleated blouse matched a pair of gloves clasping a small clutch purse, held low before her. Lorraine’s gaze strayed over to meet Jim. But he remained, uncertain and hesitant, while Joe began an awkward climb inside the car.
Working his injured shoulder about, the father appraised his son in a new light.
“What’s the hold up? Better get on over there. Can’t expect a woman to wait all day.”
Still, Jim delayed.
The elder Graczyk spoke only once more.
“Go on, now. And build me a good one at ‘Lectric Engine. You hear?”
Jim obediently started across the pavement.
Lorraine stayed motionless to his approach. Her gloved hands continued to grasp the small purse before her, in a sort of dignified reserve, or maybe, a last, loose barrier against the moment. But slowly, it moved aside. Her right hand tugged at its covered mate and the glove came away, revealing a left hand that was absent of a wedding ring.
Their eyes locked and held. Both people shared in a common, growing smile as Jim came to stand before the woman he had always loved. Reaching out, he gently took up her hands and she allowed them to be made captive.
Seated behind the huge steering wheel of his old Dodge, Joe Graczyk gazed straight ahead. Sarah reached over from beside and loosened the thick wad of dress tie knotted about his throat. She undid the top button of his stiff Sunday-church shirt, then offered him a new Pall Mall from a freshly opened pack on the car’s dashboard.
The cigarette went to a corner of his mouth, while Joe swept a grading look across the freight yard outlined in his windshield. A downstate coal drag was meandering through the inside main, while a 60-car line of yellow-belly reefers blistered through, the other way.
Beyond, Joe could see a few thin columns of brown-grey, corkscrewing from simmering steamers. Among them the blue signatures of a couple newly arrived diesels joined in, peacefully mingling their smokes.
An explosion of beating wings burst from the yard, shattering his audit. The pigeons cut a hard arc above the tracks, searching out any spills among some newly arrived grain cars and Joe followed the commons with an approving smile.
The man winced to a stab of pain, when levering his stick shift into first gear. He certainly wasn’t looking forward to weeks of continual shifting with a stiff, recuperating arm, and an errant thought popped in his head, of how much easier an automatic transmission car might make his convalescence; maybe even getting Sarah behind the wheel, more often.
Now on sick leave, he’d sure have time enough to harass old Willie at Stephens Brothers Dodge, over the pricey option - daily, if he cared to. And just maybe, he’d start in with a little batting practice, bright and early tomorrow.
Joe checked his side mirror for traffic and set a hand atop his wife’s. The couple shared a quiet smile, slowly driving away.
CHAPTER 54
The worlds of both blue-collar America and railroading moved on with the times. In succeeding decades, new generations of diesel locomotives, railroad workers, and immigrants have come and gone. The town of Mayhew, like everything else, is a much different place than what it once was. Even so, its survivorship says far more of the reliable hand-me-down burg, than the entire Chicago, Cahokia, and Southern Railway, whose proud, longstanding name, no longer exists.
Like many American rail systems, the CC&S ebbed and flowed with troubled economic times. Rampant highway truck traffic, fading industry, and several reorganizations had their way with it. Finally succumbing to bankruptcy in the late 1990s, the pike was purchased and absorbed by a Canadian railroad.
The old Mayhew freight yard as well, is a withered memory. Transferred to the town, its borders were bulldozed and leveled into sports playing fields. To see it now, a newcomer might never suspect what drama had once taken place on its soil.
But, in a curious historical footnote, a fitting memorial to the pensioned company, its departed workers, and dismantled freight center, survived those bygone days. It did so in a quarter-million pounds of weathered old steel, allocated to a distant town park.
Replaced by diesels and removed from service in early 1956, retired steam locomotive 2982 was donated to the town of Carbon. There it languished, quietly deteriorating into a rusting eyesore for the next several decades, until a nonprofit railroad club was organized and came to its rescue.
The club petitioned local government for the engine’s ownership and the machine was deeded over. It was hauled to a storage barn, enduring another lengthy interval of idleness, while assorted fundraisers and grants were organized and applied for; intermittent restoration work being performed in between, on a shoestring budget by a legion of persevering volunteers.
Finally, on a cool and sunny autumn morning, five decades to the day, that CC&S engineer Józef Graczyk had coaxed the same machine to its company speed record, the refurbished locomotive gathered a new head of steam and elegantly rolled back onto the high iron.
Reincarnated as engine 2982 emeritus, the regal Berkshire now hauls excursion trains loaded with wide-eyed children and their enchanted elders. It bears a unique steam whistle, the origin of which is lost to history and remains an enigma to passengers and crew, alike. But, everyone savors its mellow trill as the majestic old steamer hails a path across the broad Illinois landscape.
Acknowledgement and appreciation is given for the use of song refrain lyrics from, “Yes Sir, That’s My Baby,” by Walter Donaldson & Gus Kahn, Copyright 1925. Used with permission of Charles Sussman & Associates, Nashville, TN.
Further Technical Reading:
Bessette, Richard P., Rods Down and Dropped Fires. RTN Press, LLC. 2004.
Botkin, B.A. and Harlow, Alvin F., A Treasury of Railroad Folklore. Bonanza Books. 1953.
Buell, D.C., Basic Steam Locomotive Maintenance. Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp. 1980.
Deuchler, Douglas, Cicero Revisited. Arcadia Publishing. 2006.
Downey, Clifford J., Chicago and The Illinois Central Railroad. Arcadia Publishing. 2007.
Droege, John A., Yards And Terminals And Their Operation. (1906.) Kessinger Publishing’s Legacy Reprints. 2007
Electro-Motive Division, General Motors Corporation. EMD Engine Men’s Operating Manual. Model G.P. 7. 2nd Edition. October, 1950.
Illinois Central System. Safety Rules. January 1, 1946.
Johnson, Ralph P. M.E., The Steam Locomotive; Its Theory, Operation and Economics. (1942, 1944, 1981.) Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp. 2002.
Murray, Tom, Illinois Central Railroad. MBI Publishing Company LLC & Voyageur Press. 2006.
National Agreement of 1955. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen. October 27, 1955.
Nickel Plate Road. (The New York, Chicago, & St. Louis Railroad Company.) Rules For The Government of The Operating Department. December 5, 1943.
RailDriver Division of P.I. Engineering, Inc. Firing The Steam Locomotive. (Reading Lines, 1947.) 2004.
Rehor, John A., The Nickel Plate Story. Kalmbach Books. 1965.
Solomon, Brian, Railroad Signaling. MBI Publishing Co. 2003.
Periodicals and Videos:
Amsler, Jr. Robert J., Timetable And Train Operation, A Primer. Gateway Division, NMRA. 2008.
Field Enterprises Educational Corporation. Railroad. Association of American Railroads / The World Book Encyclopedia. 1960.
Gilberton World-Wide Publications, Inc. The Illustrated Story of Railroads, The World Around Us -
Classics Illustrated #4. December, 1958.
Hopewell Productions. Runnin’ That New River Train; (DVD) 2004.
Kalmbach Publishing Co. Diesel Victory. Classic Trains, Special Edition #4. 2006.
Model Railroads of The 1950s. Model Railroader Magazine, Special Issue. 2005.
Railroads And World War II. Classic Trains, Special Edition, #6. 2008.
Steam Glory 2. Classic Trains Magazine. Special Edition, #5. 2007.
Lake, Richard, Freight Yards: What Are All Those Tracks For? (Parts, I, II, III). Gateway Division, NMRA. 2001.
Prototype Yards; Adapting Prototype Operations To Model Railroading. Gateway Division, NMRA. 2001.
Lee, Stephen A., So,You Want To Run A Steam Locomotive. Trains Magazine. July, 1989.
Middleton, William D., Putting Locomotives To The Test. Classic Trains Magazine. Winter 2006.
SMP Video Publishing-Rail Video Project (Volumes 1*, 2,& 3; DVD) 1979*, 1992.
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