Home My 1963 Work Schedule My Interlocking Tower Site Van Loon Ivanhoe Griffith

Getting the Job In seeking a job, there is an old adage: "It’s not what you know; it’s who you know." This is certainly true in my case as four years earlier I had written a letter to the EJ&E inquiring about working as an operator during the summer months. I received the typical letter of rejection stating, in effect, "If anything comes up, we will call you." Yeah, right! I did not pursue this because, with my Dad working in management for U.S. Steel, I landed three summer jobs at the Gary Sheet and Tin Mill:   one in accounting, one as a laborer working with a welder, and one as an inspecter of steel sheets destined for the auto industry. Happily, while at the mill I was able to occasionally view some EJ&E switching operations. Before my summer college break in 1963, I approached first trick operator Bill Planeta at BART tower and told him I would very much like to work J towers during my summer break. Since I had been hanging around the tower for several years, Bill and I knew each other well. He was a super nice guy and readily agreed to ask his boss, chief train dispatcher F.O. Morse, to give me a job. It worked! So in early June I drove to Joliet, filled out an application, and walked across the street to Holy Cross Hospital to get a brief physical including a color blind test. Upon return to the dispatcher's office, Mr. Morse issued me a rule book and said to pay particular attention to the train order section. That was it - no training, no exams (except for the brief physical). The whole process in Joliet took less than two hours. Thus I was hired as an operator for the summer, mostly as vacation fill-in for regular operators. I received my first message and was ready to start work on June 4. Next:   About What Follows

Kirk Yard Rock Island Ship Canal Waukegan Bart