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We did handle a local freight job one day to Waterbury (I said Danbury previously by mistake) but other than this, all our assignments were switching. For the Waterbury run, we ran down the main line to Devon where we turned north on the Maybrook line as far as Derby and thence on north through Ansonia and Naugatuck to Waterbury. I don't recall how much of a train we had but at best, 600 hp didn't propel us along through the countryside very rapidly. I can remember, however, that it was a pretty ride up the Housatonic River and thence on up into the more rural part of Connecticut before reaching Waterbury. All it proved was that road work takes more horsepower than switching and we weren't particularly agile on the road parts of this local freight run.

I've barely mentioned the Yellow Building, which was the headquarters of the New Haven Railroad. As I recall it, the Yellow Building housed no female employees. Even the stenographers being male, it was a strange male jungle or paradise depending on one's point of view. It was also a very dark and dingy place and somewhat depressing to be in. But it was in the Yellow Building that the hierarchy of the railroad was located and we visited there on occasion. Although Bill Libby was most active with us on this job, I recall several other young and promising men who got into the act in minor capacities now and then such as Jim Barngrove, Weller, and John Coolidge, the latter being the son of President Coolidge. The fact that John worked for the New Haven gives a pretty good indication of how well the New Haven was regarded as a place to work in those days.

I shall terminate this 1934 account with the statement that late in 1935 we received an order from the New Haven for ten diesel-electric switchers of unique design over which I labored on and off well up into 1937 and shall cover in due course as I pursue the subsequent years.

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