Frustrated with the continuing time spent on trains, like the
MHOFW, for instance, I wonder how can we change this trend?
Trains are continuing to be re-crewed and left to sit for hours
on end and then pushed into the Crest with approximately one hour
left to work. With all the preaching on safety, how is it safe
to keep crews on duty all night, and then push and shove to get
the train into the hundred yard?

A new practice causing delays on yard trains is that the hump
jobs, which are one man remote jobs, are now not allowed to pull
up to track 215 to make their shoves unless they have 7200 feet
of cars. In other words, they have to walk back and forth,
setting and releasing brakes, pulling pins, and throwing switches
before their real job of shoving cars over the hump begins. The
yardmaster of the Crest now also has an extra task of deciding
which tracks and how many cars must be doubled. How is it safe
to continue putting more work on individuals and expecting
higher performance on people in general?

Frustrated, yes, to continue working in this push and shove
mentality, ask more, give less..... Yes, I appreciate my job.
I am willing to do what it takes to keep my job. Correct, I
probably don't get the big picture, but what I'm getting tells
me management needs to make some changes and give railroaders
a voice.

Miss Impatience

Ok Miss Impatience here. Previous blog...mistakes. I have not learned to edit
my postings yet, and I accidentally hit POST when I was trying to edit. I
noticed a word 'fell' which was supposed to be 'tell', and twenty-two was
supposed to include 'million' which makes a significant difference. I actually
catch mistakes when I read books etc, so I hate this, but I am impatient.

So, I do not think anyone is paying much attention to this project anyway,
and the blog is new, unrefined like me, hence, I jokingly call this Project
Mitzi because I am evolving, like a caterpillar into a butterfly. And my RR
project to bring about positive change and a better quality of life for rail-
roaders is new. I am developing ideas along with my computer skills.

Right now I am going to ride my mountain bike which I bought Saturday
to help develop my personal 'better quality of life'. I can hear CMS calling
me to work on my bicycle rather than my motorcycle, and maybe I can keep
better tone in my leg muscles. I also notice exercise keeps me happier and
healthier in other ways. Besides a young conductor told me about a friend
who is old (53), and since I am 54, I gotta keep ahead of the pack.
I never planned to be an old railroader all the younger guys couldn't
wait to see retire.

Mitz!

Inspiration

I look for that everyday...inspiration. Somedays I feel like I am just muddling
through with no purpose. That is when I look for what I have to be thankful for.
That's what I did everyday when I had cancer....find what I have to be thankful
for.....simple things, like a home, food, job, family. Look around and see
homeless people or people with over-whelming problems, or illnesses. There is
always something to be thankful for...even just a little flower, or a sunny day,
noticing a majestic tree. I know, sometimes it's easier than other times.
That's when I'm thankful to be home and have good food, watch a show I like...
Home makes me happy, I create my own paradise there and expect others to respect
me and my space.

Today, glad to still be home....I came in yesterday eve and too late to attend
a ladies get-together from my church.....I needed nurturing, good food, and rest.
Surprisingly, I am still home this morn, so again, nurturing me....came back to
bed with a good book and coffee and juice. I want to share something with you
that I find inspiring, and I will fell you why.

Reading Barbara Walters' AUDITION, about 1954 McCarthy hearings which twenty-two
people were watching. "It was high drama.". ...."leveling charges at everyone who
came into their sights" (she was talking about Roy Cohn, but this instance was...).

"He was in the midst of impugning a young associate of the army's chief counsel,
Joseph Welch, when Welch uttered the famous words that triggered McCarthy's downfall-
--'Until this moment, Senator, I think I never gauged your cruelty or recklessness,'
he said. 'Have you no sense of decency , sir. At long last, have you left no sense
of decency.'---and the gallery in the Senate hearing room burst into applause. So,
unseen, did many in the television audience and others wept happy tears. It was an extraordinary moment. It was if the bully everyone was terrified of were suddenly
stripped naked and people realized there was nothing left to fear. McCarthy's
popularity immediately began to plummet, and his reign of ideological terror was
over. When the hearings ended inconclusively, Roy (Cohn) resigned but McCarthy was
soon censured by the Senate. He would die, three years later, of alcoholism-related
hepatitis."

My point is this. We, as railroad men, (I know, I know), have been given a voice
through this project I have undertaken in your behalf. Let me be your megaphone,
so-to-speak, to carry forward a fight against the disease of railroad, in which
you are belittled, ridiculed, and threatened. This is 2011 people, and time for
American railroad to catch up with the times. Yes, we have a good paying job we
do not want to lose, but as Americans, we also have freedom of speech. You can
remain anonymous, and I fear not to carry forward your voices.

My plan begins with reporting of facts of daily train activities in which we
are exhausted by poor management decisions, including bad tracks and equipment.
How you are called and handled by CMS, dispatchers, yardmasters, corridor managers,
and others MATTERS. Come forth today to understand you are not just a number, your
opinion, and facts involving your job, are important, so that conclusively, our
voices will be heard and utilized to bring about positive change. Look for notices
and info in the yard office. Use the mailbox I have provided at Ney yard. Call me
or use my email. Jack Luge is also graciously working to support this project.

Thanks and have a great day.
Mitzi Gopffarth

Beginnings

Hey guys!!!! and gals.....let's face it girls, you gotta merge and be one...
So "GUYS" it is. South end, UPRR, Project Mitzi is underway and I am brainstorming
daily to procreate a pathway of prime quality of life for railroad trainmen,
in general, and Fort Worth South, specifically, of the good ole UPRR. "Viva Primo Train"
is the title I have chosen for us which translates "first life" train. Rather corny,
but here goes.....get on board the "viva primo train" and participate.

We have been talking this up, with good response, but talk has to follow with action
to obtain results. I enjoy the example of Einstein who was doomed to fail and judged
critically. True to form, he failed a lot, but because he never gave up, he accomplished
great successes. The lesson here....life has a few deadends, but this "viva primo train" project is our new pathway to turn around, come off the deadend, and lay a new roadbed with shiny new tracks.

Ok.... I hear some of you grumbling, saying Impossible!! Have you heard of Dreamworks
Animations? A new animated movie is coming out, "Puss and Boots". Point is...
It takes four years to create such a 1-1/2 hour movie. Get this... It takes 24 drawings
to create one second of movement, and about a week to produce three seconds of movement.
Hundreds of thousands of story boards develop the backgrounds. Each character is pain-
stakingly developed. They use real people to move as they film, then draw over
their figures in animation. Every detail is analyzed. Get my point? Let's move
forward with a positive attitude of WE CAN.

The action of doing, trying, analyzing, REPORTING, and creating a team effort (like
a movie) can reap results. If one way does not work, we will back out of that deadend
and find a new avenue. I have plans, I have determination, and I have been given
approval to act (preferably on your behalf). So this is a new beginning. Expect
more posts, and if nothing else, perhaps you can be inspired and find this interesting
I hope so. Please respond and feed me with your thoughts.