More Tails from the Rails..
A Conductor on the MoPac always carried a gun with him while he switch out cars.
One evening while stopped on the "Bumtown Hill" on Chicago's far south side,
a boarding party entered his caboose. Bumtown was an area that acquired its
negative nickname for lots of reasons, none of which were good. Yet again,
the locks on the caboose doors did not work. The Conductor and the Flagman
were perched up in the cupola as the party entered the cab.
The leader of the pack instructed the Conductor and Flagman to step down and
hand over their money. The Conductor informed this cat that he had "Nine
good reasons not to come down." The leader insisted they come down as it
could become ugly if they didn't.
Again the Conductor told of his "Nine good reasons not to come down." So
when the leader of the pack climbed the ladder to reach the Conductor, he
discovered "Nine good reasons;" he was facing the business end of a 9mm. The
Conductor told of this guy's eyes looking like Birmingham in those old
Charlie Chan movies whenever he got scared. The leader said nothing more
only dropped back quickly to the floor and headed to the door motioning for
his followers to take suit.
And with that, the leader and members of the pack made a quick exit without
receiving any compensation for their efforts.
This industry requires us to operate in the worst neighborhoods on earth and
prohibits us from carrying a weapon. They will not provide us with chevlar
vests either. However, they now make us wear these nice bright "safety"
vests that reflect light so nicely to make us all a bunch of easy targets.
I've been told that the crews at our yard in East St Louis refuse to wear
them for this very reason, they make for easy targets when the neighbors are
practicing their marksmanship.
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