Lehigh Valley Railroad Stories Manchester Yard

By Harry Grover Tuttle

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Harry Grover Tuttle
• Release date: Jul 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9780463018996

Harry Grover Tuttle

BA,MS from SUNY at Oswego, Ed.D. from SUNY Buffalo (UB)Taught middle, high and college language courses

Book preview

Dedication

Dedicated to all those who worked on the Lehigh Valley Railroad Manchester Yard and the families of those workers.

Acknowledgment

Dick Boardman took the 1960s cover photo of Robert Bob Tuttle servicing a diesel engine in the Manchester Yard. Sk_ebookcovers designed the cover and Shantharaja formatted the book; both work at Fiverr.

I wish to thank the Memories of Manchester/Shortsville Facebook group, the Lehigh Valley Railroad Historical Society, the Manchester Railroad Memorial Park, the Ontario County Historical Society and The History Center in Tompkins County. Many individuals contributed stories and materials: Tim Boardman; Michael Buttaccio; Colleen Z. Baumann Converse; Handi Mark Colburn; Bernie D'Arduini; Joe DeBrock; Tom DeBrock; Ellie Warner Glinda Good; June Gulick; Margaret Stambach Hanville; Margaret Cooper Tuttle Harding; Chuck Herendeen; Brad Hixson; Carol B. Howell; Dawn Hyde; Mary Margaret Kesel; Diana Lowe; Dorothy Ann Lush Liberati; Mark Maslyn; Donald E. Miller Jr.; Robert M. Moses; Doug Parmele; Mike Peters; Lewis Proper; Matt Idaho Joe Record; Tim Record; Dan Robinson; Earl Robinson; Judy Robinson; Bob Romeiser; Howard Bud Ross; Bill Ryan; Candice Ross Schneggenburger; Mark Skipworth; Paul Stambach; Albert Butch Tuttle; Jack Tuttle; Pam Tyler Tuttle; Robert Bob Tuttle; Harry Tuttle; Tracy Van Arman; Richard Vienna; Tom Vienna; Jason Winburn; Mary Ryan Woods; and Beverly Rogoza-Woodward.

I thank Tim Record not only for his knowledge but for his many contacts with previous railroad workers.

I appreciate Doug Parmele's willingness to share not only his railroad experiences but his many resources.

I especially want to thank my brother, Jack Tuttle, for arranging meetings with people, sharing materials, sharing his knowledge of the railroad, and his editing of this book.

Lastly, I thank Dr. Joellyn W. Tuttle for doing the final edit of the manuscript.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Yard Locations

Jobs

Pay

Tools and Clothing

Coal

Military

Before and After the Unions

Damaged Cars and Looting

Romance and Couples

Snow Storms and Equipment

Train Wrecks

Injury and Deaths For Railroaders

Ending Years

Traveler's Injuries In or Near the Yard

Community

Conclusion

References for Print and Media

References - Contributors or Interviewees

About the Author

Book Review

Introduction

At one time the Lehigh Valley Railroad Manchester Yard was the second largest freight Transfer in the U.S.A. Manchester was one of a few freight places that could deal with less than a carload of material. Manchester was a major classification Yard for all trains. It was a major crew changing location since it was less than one hundred miles from other major locations such as Buffalo, Albany, and Sayre, PA. The Yard crews worked 24/7. The Yard had one of the larger ice storage facilities on the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Manchester employed a thousand plus people (Yanosey, 1991).

The Manchester Yard's success was due to its hard workers. This book preserves many memories of Lehigh Valley Railroad workers, their families and the community for the Manchester (New York) Yard. Many of the stories are by actual railroaders while others are by the children or grandchildren of the railroad workers. The stories reveal much about the daily life on the railroad and in the nearby communities. This book saves these valuable stories from being forgotten. These stories are supplemented by newspaper stories about the railroaders and the railroad.

Unfortunately, many descendants of the railroad workers know little or nothing about the Lehigh Valley Railroad Manchester Yard. They may know little about what was in the Yard. They may only know that their ancestor person worked at the Yard. Some may know what job the person had but they do not know what that job involved.

These stories represent the memories of people. Each memory is his story or her story; this memory is how the person remembered the event. The time referenced is for the person's memory of the event even though the event may have existed many years previously or many years afterwards. In addition, as the railroad changed so did the people's experiences with the same location or event. Likewise, the story's conversational wording is that of the original story teller with the exception of clarifications and the changing from first person to third person. Also, throughout the years, people used different terms for the same thing such as grip, bag, or satchel. Newspaper stories have been used to supplement the personal stories.

Sometimes individuals' memories of the same event differed. Many times various newspaper accounts from the same newspaper company of the same event over time contained different and contradictory information. Different newspaper companies often varied in their reporting of the same event. Copies of copies of railroad information often were very difficult to read.

This book covers the topics of its contributors. It is not meant to cover every aspect of the railroad at the Manchester Yard nor to cover everything in detail. The book provides a few short examples for each topic and only lists a few people for each job; it provides a sampling of railroad life in the Yard and community. It deals with the human aspect of the railroad rather than a history of the railroad.

This book cites the person who gave the information by first name and then last name such as (Doug Parmele). It cites articles by the first four words in the title, if no author, and the full date of publication if known such as (Railroad Landmark Will Be..., 1968, April 2).

Hopefully, this book will make the Lehigh Valley Railroad at the Manchester Yard come alive.

Yard Locations

These locations generally go from the East to the West in the Yard.

Tower or Control Tower

The Control Tower was located at the Yard bridge between Manchester and Shortsville. The Tower controlled all switching operations for the classification Manchester Yard. It operated from about 1908 to 1968, for sixty years. The Tower was razed in 1968 and it was replaced by a centralized system for all traffic between Buffalo and Sayre. In 1968 it handled about 12 trains a day. In 1968 four people worked out of the Tower; these people were members of the Transportation Communication Employee Union (Rail Landmark Will be …, 1968, April 2).

Some Tower workers threw the switches. They had over 19 electric levers to use; the levers were waist-high. Also, these workers conversed with the engine crew from the East or West. For example, they might tell a train coming from Sayre to wait or hold out at the South Avenue crossing until a Yard track was clear to come into the Yard. They would indicate when it was safe for a train to cross tracks (Doug Parmele).

Other Tower workers served as a telegraphers. Most often, they sent and received telegraphs that dealt with specific information for certain cars.

Doug Parmele's wife would take their oldest son up to the Tower to watch Doug switch back and forth on a Sunday afternoon in the early 1960s. Although the last passenger train ended in 1961, the railroad kept the Tower until 1968 (Doug Parmele).

Tower (left) and Bunkhouse (right) 1950's,

Paul Templeton collection, Photographer unknown.

Courtesy of Mark Shipworth.

Water Pump House

The railroad had its own water system. In the southwest corner of the Yard, the building across from, east of, the bunkhouse was the water pump house. The Lehigh Valley Railroad's property extended out to the middle of the creek at the spot for water intake. It was the only privately owned property on the creek. Today, a piece of concrete at an angle of 90 degree to the present day creek walk is where the water intake was. The water pump shot the water up to the tank. The tank is still there between the new school and the Yard office. This eastern 1,000 gallon tank had a matching tank at the west end (Tim Record).

The Pump House pumped water to all the hydrants in the Yard, West and East end and to the water tower or tank that was near Lisai's Restaurant. The water tower foundation is still there in 2020. There used to be a fire hydrant in Lisai's side yard. Over by the service track there was another hydrant. They needed water for the steam engines. The hydrant near the Greasy Spoon had to have railroad ties put around it so those people who had been drinking at two or three in the morning did not drive into the hydrant (Jack Tuttle and Doug Parmele).

The railroad eventually tore the water pump station down since it was not longer being used and teenagers were hanging around it at night.

Bunkhouse / Lehigh Valley Restaurant

Bunkhouse

Railroaders from other locations such as Sayre and Buffalo would stay overnight at the bunkhouse. A visiting engineer such as Tom DeBrock would go to the bunkhouse, tell the Bunkhouse person like John DelGotto that he wanted a room. The engineer could get a room for ten cents but the person usually gave the bunkhouse keeper more since that person took care of the room. That Bunkhouse person would get him a room and ask what time he wanted to be up in the morning. If the same Bunkhouse person was still on duty, he would wake the worker up. Otherwise, the crew dispatcher would call down and tell the Bunkhouse person to get him up. A railroader had two hours notice to get ready. The rooms were very clean single rooms. Toward the end they had air conditioning in each room. The three story building had showers and bathrooms downstairs. The Bunkhouse was manned 24/7 by John DelGotto (Tom DeBrock) and people like Robert S. Bagshaw (Carol B. Howell).

Years later, some men did not want to pay DelGotto thirty cents for a towel because they could pay thirty five cents and get a beer. Some guys wanted a drink before their rest. These railroad workers did not pay to use the bunkhouse if they had their own towel (Tim Record).

Local railroaders used the Bunkhouse crew room. Mary Ryan Woods remembers going into the lounge at the Bunkhouse and watching her dad, Al Ryan, and others play cards. She had to walk down a long hallway to get to the lounge, which was at the end of the first floor heading west. There were bedrooms along the corridor. She remembers round tables for card games and overstuffed chairs. She remembers a very dapper man, Dutch Schulz who was very nice and approachable. The lounge was very gray, nothing flashy and it smelled like the railroad (Mary Ryan Woods).

The original Bunkhouse was over by the Roundhouse just past Lisai's where the road curved up to Merrick Avenue. It was on the corner. This bunkhouse was too small so they built the new bunkhouse (Tom DeBrock).

The old Passenger Station which was erected in 1892 was moved to near the Bunkhouse due to Yard work. The first passenger train arrived at the station in 1892; at that time there were five passenger trains a day. With less passengers, the railroad decided to raze the building in 1942. They took two days to take down the wooden building that included waiting rooms and ticket offices. Lumber from the old depot was to be used in the new general Yard office being erected. The old Yard office would be razed. (Old Passenger Station Removed …, 1942,March 9).

The Bunkhouse kept a ledger of who stayed there as seen in this page from 1968.