Oral History Program Armando Hernandez Interviewed by Lorrie Rands 11 May 2019 Oral History Program Weber State University Stewart Library Ogden, Utah Armando Hernandez Interviewed by Lorrie Rands 11 May 2019 Copyright © 2024 by Weber State University, Stewart Library Mission Statement The Oral History Program of the Stewart Library was created to preserve the institutional history of Weber State University and the Davis, Ogden and Weber County communities. By conducting carefully researched, recorded, and transcribed interviews, the Oral History Program creates archival oral histories intended for the widest possible use. Interviews are conducted with the goal of eliciting from each participant a full and accurate account of events. The interviews are transcribed, edited for accuracy and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewees (as available), who are encouraged to augment or correct their spoken words. The reviewed and corrected transcripts are indexed, printed, and bound with photographs and illustrative materials as available. The working files, original recording, and archival copies are housed in the University Archives. Project Description Railroad Sesquicentennial Project. In 2019, the joining of the railways at Promontory Point in Utah celebrated its 150th anniversary. This oral history project was conducted at the Union Station in Ogden, Utah, on May 9 and 10, 2019, and captured stories from individuals and their family members who worked on the railroad throughout the intermountain west. ____________________________________ Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account. It reflects personal opinion offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ____________________________________ Rights Management This work is the property of the Weber State University, Stewart Library Oral History Program. It may be used freely by individuals for research, teaching and personal use as long as this statement of availability is included in the text. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Hernandez, Armando, an oral history by Lorrie Rands, 11 May 2019, WSU Stewart Library Oral History Program, Special Collections and University Archives, Stewart Library, Weber State University, Ogden, UT. iii Armando Hernandez 11 May 2019 Abstract: The following is an oral history interview with Armando Hernandez, conducted on May 11, 2019, by Lorrie Rands in the Ogden Union Station. Armando discusses his experience working various jobs with the railroad before eventually becoming a railroad engineer. Also present is video technician Nute Rands. LR: Today is May 11, 2019, and we are at the Union Station in Ogden, Utah with Armando Hernandez talking about his experiences on the railroad. I am Lorrie Rands in the interview, and Nute Rands is with me. All right. Armando, go ahead and talk about why you started working on the railroad. AH: Well, I came from Texas because my uncle was working in Green River, Wyoming. They called my mom, said, "Get that guy over here so he can work for the railroad." The year was 1952. I work on the steam engine; I work on the 833. There were oil burners, and I worked a flute cleaner, fire knocker, hostler attendant. Many jobs you have to do, you know. They come into the pit, and we have to brush out all that fire that was underneath the 4000, and then we bring them into the roundhouse. That's where they have to be, work on it; anything that was broke or things like that in the roundhouse. But then the diesel came in 1957, and they come, and then came the turbine; they were noisy. They used to burn oil and diesel too, at the same time. Then came the 2600, diesel engine. From there, well—after that, I was laid off because the war in Korea was over. Then I have to work on the section man. They called me here to Ogden because they needed some labors. I came here in 1960 and I've been here since then. They didn't want any engineers from the street, so they told me if I can go as engineer for the railroad, and I work for 14 years for them. LR: That's really cool. When you were working, before the diesel and the turbine, when you were down in Green River: what were some of your jobs? I missed that when you first started talking. What were some of the things you did? 1 AH: Well, on the 833, there were oil burners, and they were passenger. They used to hold passengers only. LR: Passengers? AH: Yeah. The 800 was only pulled passenger cars. They burnt oil. When they burnt oil, you know, that stuff builds in there, and we have to knock it. They gave us so many minutes, 30 minutes, to knock it off and then take it out. Sometimes it was, the 800s were not… they were broke down for a reason. Then they put the 3800s in there, and they used to burn oil too. LR: So when you were knocking out the buildup, what were you using? AH: We used to have a long bar, you know? We can go in there, so we have to knock and, really, really fast; you only get 30 minutes for that. LR: How many of you would do that at a time? AH: Only one, only one man. LR: And you only had half an hour? AH: Yeah. That's all you have to do. When pull it out, you know, the big chunk of fire, you have to get it out of there. LR: And how would you then get it out of the... AH: We have a… it's like, tongs, or something like that, and pull it out. LR: Was it dangerous? AH: It was. But, you know, you have to be careful anyway, and nobody got hurt in there. LR: Well, that's good. You said that was called an oil knocker? AH: Yeah. LR: It's an odd name. Okay. AH: Fire knocker. LR: Fire knocker. Okay, that makes... 2 AH: [Unintelligible] and of the 4000, I was a flute cleaner because you have to—when they go into the shop in the roundhouse, there's little pipes. I don't know how, maybe half a dollar wide. All that from the fire building to those pipes, and you have to go in there—it was 100, hot in there. So you have to go in there and knock it out, the pipe, you know, with another bar until they were clear to the other side. [Unintelligible]. Yeah, and when they come in, you have to be… they call you a hostler attendant. You have to put on water, coal and sand. LR: What was the sand for? AH: So they won't, when they go up the hills, you know, instead of slipping, you know, they put sand and and then you grip better. LR: That's really cool. So you were a fire knocker, and were you a hostler attendant? AH: A hostler attendant, a flute cleaner. LR: A what cleaner? AH: A flute cleaner. That the one that's in, on the pipes. LR: Right, that's the one you were talking about. Oh wow. And this was all before you were laid off and sent up to Ogden, right? AH: Yeah, in Green River; was laid off in 1957. But I had two years in service, Korean. So, ‘53 to ‘55, and then I got back again. Then in ‘57, they laid off everybody because the war was over. But they sent us over here to Ogden in 1960. LR: Okay. All right. So when you came up here to Ogden, did you work out of the station, or were you in the yard? AH: No, I work in the roundhouse. There was a roundhouse in there too. I came in there, roundhouse. LR: And what were some of your duties at the roundhouse? AH: I was just, labor, cleaning. 3 LR: You said something about the section house, that you worked on the section house too? AH: Not a section. Put up ties and everything. LR: I get that. I don't quite know what it's called. I've heard section house and the section. AH: Section man; I always says section man. Yeah. LR: Okay. You did that before you were brought up here to Ogden? AH: Yeah. Because in 1957, laid off. So we had to work as a section man and put out some ties, about 4 to 500 a week. LR: And when you were doing the section men, were you working with a gang of individuals? AH: Yeah, we had a gang, a big gang in there. Maybe, I don't remember, might have been six or 10 men. I can't remember. LR: And did you get to know those men well? AH: Yeah. LR: It's kind of like a family. AH: Yeah. Put out the railroad and then with a hammer, you know, like they show us in there. LR: A spike maul? AH: Yeah. LR: Okay, cool. [To Nute] Do you have any questions that you thought of? [To Armando] Do you have a really fun memory of working on the railroad that just stands out to you, that you'd like to share? AH: No. LR: Just a specific, was there a moment while you were working on the railroad that just stands out to you? 4 AH: No. LR: No, okay. Let's see, I can come up with one more question. Maybe I can't. Let's see. So you worked… AH: In Green River. I used to be a fireman. Not, like, this was… What you call the fireman here? Fire... NR: Firefighters? AH: Not firefighters. The fire department. LR: Right. That's not what a fireman was on the... AH: Well, that was in Green River. If you volunteer, anything happens in the yard, you have to leave everything you're doing and go see what's wrong with the fire. From there, I used to ride the passenger trains all over, free. LR: Okay. During this time, did you get married or have a family? AH: No, I was single at that time, okay? I never got married until I lived here in Ogden. LR: Okay. When you were working in Green River, or even when you came up here to Ogden, did you have any sort of discrimination, or were you just able to fit in? AH: No, no, you have to have an examination in Ogden, yeah. LR: [Talking to Nute] Well, what's another way I could ask that question? Well, you think of that. Let's see. [To Armando] So when did you stop? You said you worked here in Ogden for 14 years. AH: As an engineer. LR: As an engineer. AH: Yeah. I worked some so long here, and then I took the buy-off, $6,000, and they sent me to Salt Lake. Then in Salt Lake, that's where they needed engineers, you know, because they didn't want to get any from the street. So they told the laboring man they want me, so that's what I was. I was 14 years on the road as an engineer with the Union Pacific. 5 LR: Okay. Were you still doing that in Salt Lake, too, as an engineer? Were you an engineer in Salt Lake? AH: Yeah, I was in the yard as an engineer. From there, you have to go take classes, you know, for go on the road. LR: Okay. So did you ever end up on the road? AH: Yes, I went to Pomona, California. They sent me over there. From there, I went all the way to Oregon. I was going up on those mountains, 11,000 feet, taking trains up there and back. LR: That's really cool. Well, is there anything else you'd like to share? AH: No. LR: Well, thank you so much for your willingness to sit here. I don't know much about the railroad in this regard, so it's been really fun to get these stories. Thank you so much. AH: Okay, you bet. Thank you. 6