Pranks and Horseplay on the Railroad

LOLOLOL!!!!!!

GA, wow, I gotta remember that trick with the bailing off...........It gets aggrivating when Im the only one awake on extra service moves/stone trains, etc....even at stop signals when its my turn...I usually just turn the radio way up

That trick with the horn pedal reminds me of something that happened in Newark Penn station about 2 years ago when NJT crews were still getting used to the ex-Amtrak P40s, which have the sequencer horn pedals, and in a differnet place than the other locos with horn pedals (not sequencer pedals thank god).

A Raritan Valley Line train pulled into Newark with the P40 on the point. In NJ, its required to blow the horn when coming into a station. So the eng hits the horn pedal coming into the station from the yard, as required (no one told him that it would continue to blow and blow and blow). The horns on the P40 are FRIGGEN LOUD btw, and blow for a long time.... So when the second horn blast blows, he is starting down the platform where all the people are standing. Of course, this is evening rush and the place is packed.

So he stops on the pedal a few times in a panic thinking its stuck or something. All that does is shut it off and restart the sequence all over again. While management scrambled over there to him to try to figure out what to do, half the station is deaf now as the loco is still doing its --------------- ---------------- ooooo --------------- Needless to say, when the rest of us got trained on them, that was one of the first things they pounded into our heads.

I was getting ready to leave Newark Penn a few months ago in a P40 and I go to turn on the bell getting ready to pull out, and I hit the damn horn button and not the bell button on the dash....after scaring the hell out of myself and everyone in the station, I pull out of there needing a change of underwear! I was expecting to hear something about that, or at least some comment on the radio, but luckily it was an early Sunday AM, and not too many folks around

My two contributions...

With all the new hires that are trackside or MoW, clearing for a train is important, so my company takes care in making sure that everyone is clear. Every Spring, there's some smart ass Foreman that tells the new hires "and make sure that when the EoT/SBU rolls by on the last car.. that you jump right behind it and strike a pose.." He puts that in the heads of the newbies that there is in fact a camera in the EoT unit and to make sure that it snaps a photo as the train rolls by! <usually a few go for it>

And.. from the Maintainer I apprenticed under: he was on the one side of the crossing letting a train clear, while the jokester was on the bungalow/ case side of the crossing. The train was clearing - gates down, lights flashin. Well, Mr Jokester casually opens the test key and takes it off 'normal' to 'test' which would normally activate the crossing. Being that a train was clearing thru & the crossing activated.. the crossing continued to work. Of course - all of this was done out of sight from the other Maintainer on the other side of the road & passing train.

Well.. the train clears.. clears the island.. bells... still flashing.. gates down.. patient traffic now ready to move. And -- nothing. Gates still down. WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO ??! says Mr Jokester. Blank look on the Maintainers face "NOTHING.. I didn't touch ANYTHING" as the train chugs away. Followed by scrambling in the ballast looking for broken wires etc!!

And there's more. Dialing the other guy's FRED number in, and dumping his train for him! Hanging some lingerie in the cab to suggest the preceding crew had a LOT of fun with an unauthorized guest. Pouring a bottle of cheap perfume around the cab for the next crew to "enjoy". In the old days, making up a phony waybill with humorous origin, destination and contents.

Remember the old IBM cards with the keypunch holes? Gather a large container of those, and innocently dump them out the second floor yard office window just as a selected victim happens to walk below. (Those little things got into EVERYTHING and were about impossible to get rid of).

Of course there were other pranks not unique to the railroad, such as the "smoke bomb into the occupied bathroom" trick. And there was no limit to what could be set on fire!

I had some fun showing newbies my shrunken flashlight. I saw a Rayovac AA battery model exactly like the company issue D cell type and carry it in my trowser side pocket. During new hire orentation I mention the 'fact' that the flashlights from the store room shrink if left in your work clothing while in the dryer. I show them the AA version and always get a few gulible victims who actually think it shrunk! When I turn it on it gets them every time!

We had this hopeless "ditsy" foreman in the Material Department who would, quite frankly, worry the crap outta you over piddling details. He just frankly got on everyone's nerves. One time, he marked off sick because he was constipated and his "poop chute" was stopped up! One of the boys decided during lunch to call him at home, disguising his voice as a "Dr. Leonard". While I can't duplicate it here, Poo Poo (as he came to be known) had a very whiney voice that would really get on one's nerves. My co-worker told him that he was a "specialist" and Poo Poo needed to come into the office in the afternoon at 2 o'clock for an evaluation.

" Uh, did you say 2 o'clock", Poo Poo whined, "I'll sure be there at 2 o'clock.......MERCY! I've gotta HURRY or I'll be late!"

It took Kelly (not his real name) 5 minutes to convince Poo Poo he was NOT the doctor, and, no, he did NOT have an appointment at 2 o'clock! We were in the background almost rolling on the floor laughing at him!

Another time, due our aggravation with Poo Poo, we ALL bought white lab coats with our names on them and wore them in the warehouse. Why? The implication was, Poo Poo was so utterly nutty (trust me, he WAS!), they're coming to take him away, hey hey, hee, hee, hi ho! We really did that!

Another time....same hopelessly ditsy foreman, I was a fair cartoonist and I drew a good likeness of this little fellow with BIG glasses, a shock of black hair, and a little blue rain hat he wore at all times except when he was required to wear a hard hat. I substituted it for some safety signs, interposing it onto them and their safety slogans. Like "Heed these warning signs" where various traffic and safety signs such as DANGER! were shown on the sign. Where the sign was, I put Poo Poo's face! Several of the guys helped me put them around the shops where the old geek would see them. OH! Did that EVER p-ss him off!!!!!!!!!! He'd snatch them down and rail, "If I ever find whose mockin' me with these signs, I'll find him something to do", in his whiney high-pitched voice!!!!!! OH man!!! You know, he NEVER wore that little rain hat EVER again! LMAO!!!!!! It made him SO MAD, and gave us lots of snickers!!!!!!

GF