Commuter jobs benefit from repitition - same locomotive, same number of cars, same schedule every day. Student Engineers (aka Pups on the C&NW) would watch in awe as the 'old head' brought the train to a quick, smooth stop station after station. How'd he do that? What was the secret? The Set 'Em Up! Since the number of cars and train speed would be the same every day, a regular Engineer would develop a series of Set 'Em Ups - marks along the right-of-way that could be spotted easily: a milepost, the end of a fence line, the back door of a house - anything could work, and he probably had an alternate set of marks on the other side of the tracks in case a passing freight blocked his view. At the Set 'Em Up the Engineer would set the big brake - the automatic air brake on the train - to full service and shut the throttle to Idle. A good Set 'Em Up would actually stop the train a little short of the station platform, so the Engineer could release a little brake and adjust the final stop to use the whole platform. The air brake on passenger trains is set for Graduated Release, so it can be set, partially released, and then reset - as long as there is air in the car reservoirs. Some Engineers have been caught by making too many adjustments so that there is finally no response from the brake, known as 'pissin' away the air'. Along with the Set 'Em Ups, Engineers worked with Spots - the precise location for a station stop that, for example, would allow crossing gates behind the train to clear up or that would keep car doors away from a depressed crosswalk.

Controlling slack and running a smooth train called on the Engineer's skill with both the brake and the throttle. Slowing down for a speed restriction - for example westbound at Western Avenue crossing the Milwaukee Road - the Engineer would set the big brake on the train, but bail off the engine brake, then reduce the throttle to Run 1. He'd release the brake and hit the diamonds right at 30 mph, then get right after the throttle to pull the train out of the restriction smooth and fast, with no slack action. Eastbound, again the Engineer would reduce the throttle to Run 1, but never to Idle. The old F7's and E's would hang on to transition in Run 1. If the Engineer went to Idle and then opened the throttle again, the locomotive power contactors would drop out, then pick up in series, but drop out again because of speed and then pick up in parallel. While all this was going on, the train was just drifting. When the locomotive finally decided to go to work, it gave the train a pretty good boot.

Engineers pride themselves in making smooth stops right on the spot, keeping the passengers - and the conductor - happy. It became a real problem when the C&NW put second-hand E-units from Uncle Pete (Union Pacific) into suburban service. Scoots were all equipped with composition brake shoes - not unlike what you've got on your automobile - cars and locomotives alike. Deceleration was smooth and uniform right down to the final stop. But the Union Pacific locomotives had the old cast iron brake shoes. At speed they felt ineffective, but as the train slowed, those iron shoes would take hold. Very hard. Station stops resembled collisions with a brick wall. Attempts to bail off the engine brake right as the train stopped could not be done consistently. Eastbound trips, run from the cab car, were even worse, since the Engineer could not bail off the engine brake at all. It felt like we'd dropped an anchor on a short chain, and we fully expected to look back and see a cloud of ballast and splintered crossties behind the engine. Since the engine squatted down when it stopped, it would run all the slack out of the train. Starting up again, we could feel the slack come up car by car until it hit the cab car with a good tap. The mechanical people at the diesel ramp (M19A - 40th Street, Chicago) were flooded with complaints, and it wasn't long before those UP engines all had composition brake shoes and new brake cylinders.

There were three C&NW cars numbered 555 assigned to subscription club car service on the run to Kenosha. The first was heavyweight coach 555, built in 1913, the second was the former Parlor Car 6515, built by Pullman Standard in 1949. It was assigned to club car service and renumbered 555 in May 1959. The third car was ACF built club lounge 7901, reassigned to commuter service as 7901 in 1961 and later renumbered when second 555 was retired. The 7901 was originally assigned to the Cities Streamliners and later ran on the Peninsula and Flambeau 400s until they were doubled-decked in 1958.

Briefly, GP35 834 was the second of three GP35's (858, 834, 859) dispatched on Train 258 (91 cars plus caboose), following Train 254 (units 862, 849, 1751, 98 cars plus caboose). Train 254 departed Boone Yard late and had switching to do en-route. Train 254's conductor advised the dispatcher of delays as setouts progressed, and the dispatcher ordered Train 254 to cross to the westward main to clear the way for Train 258 to pass. The crossover at Lowden was a trailing point arrangement to the direction of travel and Train 254 was ordered to back through the crossover. As Train 254 was lining up for the crossover, Train 258 was dealing with mechanical issues. The Automatic Train Control system on GP35 858 (Train 258's lead unit) had been acting erratic and when it arrived at Boone Yard around 6:30 PM, a mechanic examined the ATC system, reset the motor generator to the required 75 volts (it had been producing 30 volts resulting intermittent red over yellow displays and automatic brake applications), and he also restored the cutout cock of the brake-valve actuator to cut-in position. Train 258 departed Boone Yard three and a half hours late, and the ATC system again began giving false red over yellow displays and actuating the brakes and the PC switch, which dropped the units to idle. Train speed dropped to 12 mph as the engineer struggled to regain control. Unable to increase speed, he sent the brakeman back to check on the trailing units, where it was discovered the ground relays had tripped on both units. The brakeman reset the ground relays, power was restored, but by that time, the train had come upon another ATC relay point near Nevada, the ATC system gave the false red over yellow display and made an automatic brake application. The engineer then moved the ATC cutout cock to cutout position, and although the ATC system continued to give false red over yellow displays, it could no longer automatically apply the brakes. At 9:37 PM, Train 258 was moving at about 60 mph and approaching Lowden, 20 mph faster than the rules allowed, which restricted the speed to a maximum of 40 mph when any part of the ATC was disabled. The engineer of Train 258 looked back to inspect his train as it entered a curve. Meanwhile Train 254 was preparing to back through the crossover, with the conductor on the caboose and the flagman lining the crossover switches. As Train 258 rounded the curve into Lowden, it became apparent to all that a wreck was imminent, Train 254's rear end crew headed for safety, and Train 258 went into emergency brake application, striking Train 254 at about 30 mph. The caboose and last three cars of Train 254 were destroyed, the lead locomotive of Train 258 overturned, the second (GP35 834) and third units remained upright but at right angles to the track, and the first 17 cars of Train 258 were derailed. There were no human fatalities, but all three locomotives were heavily damaged, ultimately retired and traded back to EMD. The cause was determined to be the failure of the conductor and flagman to provide protection against following trains and the failure of the engineer of Train 258 to operate his train at a restricted speed with part of the ATC disabled.

http://railroadheritage.org/r1132/bi-level_lounge_car_on_the_chicago__north_western_editors_title

Also see this address:

http://railroaddiningcar.org/content/tap-lounge-train-153-flambeau-400-attendant-cnw-2-photos