[PRCo] Re: Stuff That's Gone- West Penn Railways

Sat Oct 30 18:24:55 EDT 2010

I suppose I should throw in my Mill job.  I was at Homestead for about 18
months between 1968 & 69.  The most significant remembrance I have is guys
being forced to take something like 8 weeks vacation then coming back and
trying to recall what they were supposed to do.  You see I was working in
the computer department.  The computer was just inside the 8th Ave entrance
and I never got any further.  Truth is I never wanted to go any further.

-----Original Message-----
From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of Dwight
Long
Sent: Saturday, October 30, 2010 12:13 PM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Cc: Dennis Lamont
Subject: [PRCo] Re: Stuff That's Gone- West Penn Railways

John

There was a lot of slack time in my job at Crucible as well.  But woe befall
any laborer who failed to heed the whistle at the cold roll station when the
operator--who was on incentive--needed oil, scrap toted away, or whatever!
Slack time was particularly bad on night shift.  One night all the laborers
(myself included) were sacked out on shelves in the warehouse.  The foreman
was really pissed when he found us--cold roll needed rolling oil.  He said,
can't at least one of youse guys stay awake?  But no one was disciplined for
it.

I just missed you at Homestead.  I was based there, in the transportation
office, for a short time in early 1965. That was a blast--got to see all the
USS Valley mills, ride the Union RR, etc.  and got paid for it!

Dwight
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: John Swindler 
  To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org 
  Sent: Saturday, 30 October, 2010 11:54
  Subject: [PRCo] Re: Stuff That's Gone- West Penn Railways

  I spent the summer of 1966 in Homestead works as a grinder.  The job
involved grinding imperfections out of steel plate, which would then be
welded, and we would then grind the weld smooth.

  My favorite story was first shift on night turn.  There were two of us
college students.  We worked for about an hour grinding 5-6 plates when an
old timer came over to us and said:  "you boys need to take it easy for the
rest of the night.  Otherwise, when you go back to school, the 'incentive'
will be ruined for this job".

  I remember that whenever I see closed, rusted factory buildings.

  Cheers
  John

  > From: hwandrews at wowway.com
  > To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
  > Subject: [PRCo] Re: Stuff That's Gone- West Penn Railways
  > Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2010 11:34:17 -0400
  > 
  > Hell is right here in Michigan.  No, I don't mean Detroit - there is a
city
  > named Hell just to the west of Detroit.
  > (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell,_Michigan)
  > 
  > I think many of us from the 'burgh had interesting summer jobs.  
  > 
  > I was a hooker at the Homestead works for a summer.  That's the guy on
the
  > floor who places the crane hooks to lift and move a load of steel - what
do
  > you guy thing?  
  > 
  > My toughest job was laboring in a Gray Iron Foundry in Lawrenceville.
One
  > of the elevators for reclaiming the mold sand needed repair.  My job was
to
  > stand in the elevator pit and shovel the sand that fell off back onto
the
  > elevator belt.  Guess that was cheaper than doing the repairs....  and
by
  > the end of the summer I had a great set of biceps!  
  > 
  > 
  > -----Original Message-----
  > From: pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org
  > [mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounce at lists.dementia.org] On Behalf Of John
  > Swindler
  > Sent: Saturday, October 30, 2010 11:05 AM
  > To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
  > Subject: [PRCo] Re: Stuff That's Gone- West Penn Railways
  > 
  > 
  > Very interesting Dennis
  > 
  > My father once commented that flying over the Allegheny Mtns. towards
  > Pittsburgh at night - my guess would be 1945 -  was like descending into
  > Hades. 
  > 
  > As for college - I was more fortunate - didn't spend two summers in
'hell'.
  > Instead spent summer of 1968 and 1969 as a full time temporary CTA bus
  > driver, and achieved similar results.  Suspect many are glad they went
to
  > college then, instead of now.
  > 
  > Isn't Hell north of Georgetown in the Cayman Islands???
  > 
  > Cheers
  > John
  > 
  > 
  > > From: trombone at windstream.net
  > > To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
  > > Subject: [PRCo] Re: Stuff That's Gone- West Penn Railways
  > > Date: Sat, 30 Oct 2010 09:24:49 -0400
  > > 
  > > Great stuff.  If you go the coke oven section and then select Shoaf, 
  > > you will see a short film featuring coke production.  This is very 
  > > similar (our coke pulling process was different) to where I worked at 
  > > Carpentertown Coal & Coke (Sharon Steel) facility on Scrubgrass Creek 
  > > in Armstrong County during the summers of 1973 & 74.  Yes, there were 
  > > still beehive ovens in production and my college friends who saw it 
  > > from the top of the hill at night referred to me working in "hell."  
  > > They could not believe such a place existed.
  > > 
  > > I made $6,000.00 in 2 summers.  My undergraduate degree cost me about 
  > > $10,000.00.  Other jobs provided the rest of the money and I graduated

  > > debt free, a life style I still attempt to maintain.  (No wonder my 
  > > credit score is only 15 points from perfect.)
  > > 
  > >           Dennis F. Cramer
  > > http://home.windstream.net/dfc1
  > > 
  > > 
  > > 
  > > 
  >       
  > 
  > 
  > 
  > 