Orders on the fly at Kendallville, IN, 1937

New York Central Railroad engineer receiving orders on the fly, westbound, in Kendallville. 1937 Phillip Pepple Photo.

One can only imagine the BS involved if something like that were still done today. The operator would have to have an orange vest, safety glasses, ear plugs, and be standing at least 20 feet away. The engineer would have to have safety glasses and who knows what, or more likely would not be allowed to open the cab window for fear of something happening. Reducing injuries and deaths is a good thing, but the skill, satisfaction and fun has been taken out of railroading.

Old guy's rant will now be turned off!

Wouldn't there also have to be a yellow handrail on the walkway he's standing on?