Charles Brand, Hoxie Sub Roadmaster 1962 -

Discussion in 'Frisco Folks' started by klrwhizkid, Aug 8, 2020.

  1. klrwhizkid

    klrwhizkid Administrator Staff Member Administrator Frisco.org Supporter

    From Karl Brand on Frisco Rails Across Missouri:

    I found this cartoon in one of the Frisco Employee Magazine, and it made me mindful of my father. During the early fall of 1962, the Frisco promoted my dad, and it made him the Roadmaster of the Frisco’s Hoxie Subdivision, which ran from Nash, MO to Hoxie, AR via Poplar Bluff, MO.
    The new job required us to move from Springfield to the River Division Headquarters of Chaffee, MO. My father was born in Cape Girardeau, so it was like returning home for my father. During the late ’20’s-early ’30’s, my grandfather served as the River Division, Division Engineer.
    The Frisco provided him with a motorcar, instead of a company car or truck. On Mondays, my mother would drive him to the depot, where he would get a line-up sheet, With a line-up sheet in hand, Mom would then drive him to the tool house, where he kept his motorcar.
    He loaded the car with the large steel suitcase that he used for a week’s worth of clothing. He filled the 10 gallon, galvanized-steel, Igloo water can, and the motorcar’s fuel tank. Although against the rules, he carried a pistol. Once he checked his flagging equipment, he was ready to set-on, and head for Nash. While on the road, he usually stayed in Poplar Bluff or in Walnut Ridge. The Hoxie Sub ran behind the motel in Walnut Ridge, and the crews had built a set-out for the Roadmaster to use when he laid-over in Walnut Ridge.
    As he traveled the Hoxie Sub, he noted defects that required attention. As I recall, he conducted turnout inspection on a quarterly basis.
    After a brief stay, in Chaffee, he took a transfer to KC, where he had the Kansas City Terminal Division, and later the KC Sub. Th chief advantage of working the mainline out of KC was that he could perform his 2 a week inspection from the rear vestibule of The Sunnyland and later The Southland.
    When he rode the passenger train, we would usually retrieve him from KC Union Station. However, during one inspection trip, the Redbird on 108 ran out of fuel at Lenexa, so we had to head to Lenexa to get him.
    With the demise of passenger service, he had to ride the caboose of freight trains. Occasionally he would get stuck in Ft Scott, so my brother and I, who by then had our drivers’ licenses, made the trip to Ft Scott to get him.
    The Frisco’s Kansas City Terminal included the Clinton Sub between Centropolis and Dodson so we would drive him to Grandview, where he’d flag 58, and we would would pick him up at Centropolis.
    The Highline side of Kansas City was the quiet side of Kansas City, so Dad would often take Paul and me along on a Sunday afternoon for the quarterly turnout inspection.
    Lots of good memories to be sure.
    Photo 1: Charles Brand, Chaffee Missouri. Winter 62-63 In front of the toolhouse, looking north. Photo repaired by D Wirth.
    Photo 2: Bridge C-66.7 from the rear platform of a northbound freight. The ODPT has just been renewed with a concrete and steel beam structure, and Dad was checking the ride across it.
    Roadmaster Speeder.jpg Charles Brand, Hoxie Sub Roadmaster Chaffee, Mo Winter 62-63.jpg Bridge C66.7.jpg
     

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