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When a refrigerator car was emptied of its
cargo of meat and/ or vegetables, the cars were cleaned locally, then the ice was removed. A man got into tli.e bunker with the ice. When he handpicked the ice to a suitable size, a second man, above, used tongs with a rope on it to remove the ice. If the car were not cleaned ready to return to the point of origin within a certain time limit, a fine would be imposed by the railroad company. If all the food were not removed, there was a problem: pay· the fine or dispose of the food. Many a FGE worker went home with a couple hams, bushel of potatoes, or crate of grapes, if the value of the food was less than the amount of the fine. Some of the cleaners had almost a second career of selling what they could; the company just wanted the cars clean and ready to pick up and deliver the next load. In addition, these men were responsible for reicing cars in transit. To prevent spoilage, they secured ice from the B&O icehouse. "Lots of trellises in Brunswick were made from wooden laths taken from Fruit Grower cars," says one railroad employee. Fruit Growers and its ice house were important parts of the railroad system in Brunswick until about the end of World War II when mechanicallyrefrigerated cars began making an appearance, and the need for icing facilities disappeared.
Route 464. Somewhere out there, well east of Tenth A venue, these bunkhouses were located. A covered passageway between the YMCA and the second floor of the Emergency Room led to "Y" bedrooms. This was also called a bunkhouse." The last bunkhouse was the apartment over the Laundromat at Second Avenue and East Potomac Street. Just as men from miles away came to Brunswick for work, some local men had to take turns that kept them in distant cities for varying periods. Contributors to this book say the bunkhouse that the Brunswick men used in Philadelphia was playfully called "Murphy's Flophouse." S - H. Austin Cooper W-MMM
WHISTLES AND WATCHES: Telling Time in Brunswick The railroad ran by the clock." As in most businesses, just about everyone on the railroad was governed by the limitations of time. Engineers and conductors compared watches at the start of a run just like military men would synchronize theirs before a mission. Yardmasters gauged their work and track men had to be keenly aware of the clock so as to accomplish their tasks between passing trains. Some wag once remarked "You can always tell a railroad man - Gold watch chain, dirty overalls, and no money." Although that is somewhat facetious, time was so important to the railroad that employees had to have their timepieces checked regularly by authorized watch inspectors. While the pocket watch, carried by so many workers, was the most obvious means of telling time in Brunswick, there were others. A stationary steam whistle was located near the roundhouse and shops and it blew throughout the day, imparting various signals to the workers and the community. Powered by the boiler room, the whistle had been crafted by Howard Cooper, a local B&O machinist. The usual schedule was as follows:
S - Dutch Bums W-MMM
BUNKHOUSES A picture in our files was immediately recognized by Wendell Stewart as the "Bunkhouse on the Tow Path." A group of men who had to have a place to live in Brunswick while working on the railroad found it economical to unite their resources in order to provide a home. Six to ten men would build a house, make payments, and eventually own it. Once moved in, they paid someone to keep it clean and to cook for them. Two bunkhouses were humorously known as the "Italian Hotel" and the "Irish Hotel." They were located on a county road east of Tenth Avenue. That road followed the present westbound main track where it paralleled East Potomac Street at Ten Row, curved north well beyond the great curve of East Potomac Street, continued toward lhe present radio station, and eventually took a course on what is now
7:00 AM - 1 Short; End 3rd trick, start 1st trick. 11:00 AM - 1 Long; Wildcat whistle (siren effect); lunch time. 11:20 AM- 1 Short; lunch over. 12 Noon - 1 Short. 3:00 PM - 1 Short; End 1st trick; start 2nd. 7:00 PM - 1 Short; lunch time, 2nd trick. 7:20 PM - 1 Short; lunch over. 11 :00 PM - 1 Short; End 2nd trick; start 3rd.
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