Interview with Leroy Rosser, Part 2

This is Season 2, Episode 9 and Part 2 of the interview with Leroy Rosser, a friend from the Atlanta Airport People Mover system, once was the wayside maintenance supervisor, the head special project supervisor of the site worked along side with site managers in Atlanta and involved with other sites across North America. Now retired and doing other projects.  Check out our website: www.williams2.org

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:10

Greetings and welcome to the Train Man ATL Chronicles. We thank you for tuning in to our podcast. We want you to check out our website, www.williams2.org. It has information about the podcasts, the people being interviewed with goals, achievements, direction, and contact information. Also, you can send comments and questions through our email address, getting a life3 at gmail.com. We are on several platforms such as YouTube, Amazon Music, Google Podcast, Spotify, BuzzSprout, and various other podcast networks. This is season 2, episode 9, and part 2 of the interview with Leroy Rosser, a friend from the Atlanta Airport People Mover System, once was the Wayside Maintenance Supervisor, the head special project supervisor of the site worked alongside with site managers in Atlanta and involved with other sites across North America. Now retired and doing other projects.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

And knowing how important stumbler logic and principles are.

SPEAKER_04 1:09

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:09

And that's the only way you're going to be successful. You got to do things according to the stumbling. And you got to have a logical reason for doing it. And most of all, you got to have a principal reason for doing it.

SPEAKER_04 1:21

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

And I look at that as if you don't have those three together, you're not going to be successful.

SPEAKER_04 1:28

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:29

It's hard to be susceptible if you don't have those three. You may be successful for a while, but it ain't going to last. Because here again, we we we we will have to do things by stunning based on the environment, based on, you know, what's out there. It's for keeping people safe.

SPEAKER_05 1:46

Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

And that's what our main thing is is moving people safe. And we and we have to do that.

unknown 1:52

So, but now that that came, although we had some issues there, but but we we we worked through them.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

And then also for quality, uh, you know, when I fell into the quality end of it, say, okay, Leroy, you you know what? You you you seen it all, you did it all, you you've been to different sites, you work different sites. We we we carried you to places we wanted, we needed you to be for different for different reasons. So now, you know, we we we started the quality program, so and I had to head up the quality program. And you know how I they probably still got that going on. Everybody had to do quality inspection, right? And I had to review all the quality. And then wherever they had a problem at, they would call me or either I would go or I would get on the phone in a meeting, you know, um and work with them, you know. Um it wasn't uh it was a deal on where I really I really took this job seriously in any job because again we had to move people safe, keep them safe, and we didn't have margin for errors because again, we were governed by the stumbles, and and mainly because we the transportation is mainly from DOT.

SPEAKER_05 3:18

Right.

SPEAKER_02 3:18

Even down to the tides we use, even to the brakes used and things we use and stuff like that. That's how I got caught up with all the, you know, with all the equipment going on the car, the brakes and the, you know, and the redesign of the train line cables and you know, uh rerouting the motor cables because the motor cable was burning up. I I was the I was the engineer now. Um now I'm the engineering. Now I'm I'm the engineer, know all about this equipment. And and that was okay because, you know, it's it gave me an opportunity to move around other places and stuff like that. So and then the last thing before I retired, I uh were more or less consultant for all the field sites. Oh and the maintenance. And anything came up, it came from Leroy. Uh, you know, it was time I had to leave and go to another job site. We were the only, we were the only site that had the brake test equipment. Oh. That's another piece of equipment that I didn't I didn't design this piece of equipment. Right. But my manager some time ago, he he he gave me a brochure. He said, take a look at this and tell me what you think about it. That was why I better thunder. Right. He said, Take a look at this and tell me what you think about it. I said, what is it? He said, just take a look at it, we can tell me what you think about it. He said, like a piece of equipment that we can test acceleration, deceleration, and braking. I looked at it and I did some research on it. I said, Oh man, this is wonderful. This is great. You know, we we could we could use this. This is this is what the troopers use when they when they um react um auto accident.

SPEAKER_05 4:55

Right.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

You know, medal stop induction, measure and stuff like that. So when I went back to him, I said, Oh yeah, Bob, this is this is great. He said, You did, I said, yes, I already checked it out, I already talked to the people who make it. If you think we can use one, I said, we gotta have one. You know, I said, now this you know, we can look at our acceleration, deceleration, braking, and we can tell how fast the train stops and how fast the acceleration, we can take this piece of equipment and tell whether or not we're within the DOT specification or acceleration braking and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_05 5:27

It's okay.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

He said, You you okay? That's the okay. He said, I want you to write a letter to to Kim alone, Alpha guy. Right. You to write a letter to him, explaining what this piece of equipment does, and and and give us get him enough information for him to okay us buying one.

SPEAKER_05 5:44

Right.

SPEAKER_02 5:44

And I did that. And I sat down, I spoke to Kim alone about it. And he said, You think? I said, Yes. It would save us a lot of time, a lot of effort. I said, then it's to help us in testing our vehicles, stop and dusting and stuff like that. Right. He said, okay. He said the brake rate. Yeah, break rate, acceleration, deceleration, stopping dusting. Here again, when we talk about this stuff, we talk about DOT specification. Right. You know, emergency stop. If you're stopping too hard, you're gonna be throwing people down. Right. Or you accelerating too fast where people are gonna be bounced around. That was a that was a big deal.

SPEAKER_04 6:27

Right.

SPEAKER_02 6:27

And this piece of equipment hoped us to keep this in, you know, within within the within the specification. Because if we took one out, hey, this thing stopping too hard. We knew right away we gotta do something.

SPEAKER_05 6:42

Right.

SPEAKER_02 6:42

Accelerating too fast, we gotta do something. So whether it was with a software change or uh a hardware change, whatever it was, we were able to do that because now we know we know what the problem is. And that that also got me some places. I I spent time and called me up, said, hey, look, we need you to bring your test equipment to New York on the L train Friday. We haven't stopped, we're having some stopping problems here. Right, right. Can you can you bring your equipment up here and test it? I said, well, yeah, I I can do it, but you gotta get it, gotta get it cleared through my boss.

SPEAKER_05 7:15

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 7:15

So they did. They got it cleared. So I went up for a week, took the equipment with me, find out what that problem was. So, and uh, same thing with the braking system. We we we always we was always looking for the best. Right, you know, uh, and I worked with Michelin, you know. Yeah, I worked with Michelin and the tires, you know, who and and and again we talk about the brake, we we know what brake shoe we use, sticking out and steps made out of Kavala, stuff like that. So, so we we needed the best equipment because brake shoes, we've we've stopped in, you know how many times a day we stopped. Brake shoe wasn't last in no time. Right why the brake shoes ain't lasting because they're too soft. We need a brake shoe to give us the same um stop and give us the same um thing we looking for, but it needs to be tougher.

SPEAKER_05 8:09

Right.

SPEAKER_02 8:09

So I I I I worked with I worked with uh the brake company to come up with a to come up with a um uh uh a different brake shoe made out of different material, but we but we wanted to be soft enough to give us a good stop. Right. And we came up with the 697 brake shoe made out of Kavala. Oh, you know, working with working with uh contractors, working with vendors. That's why I was gone a lot of time, you know, at the vendor shop and in, you know, faces like Chicago and other places, you know, with people who make the doors for. Hey, we got a problem with the doors. I need to go to the shop, you need to go up there and work with these guys, and that's why, that's why I was gone a lot. That's why I but then I would be back in Atlanta. I I remember we had a problem. I was on vacation, I was down in the gulf, me and my wife and her family. We were down in the gul. And they called me and Leroy.

SPEAKER_05 9:06

They interrupt your vacation?

SPEAKER_02 9:08

Well, they that's what they did. They call me. They say we got a problem in Houston.

SPEAKER_05 9:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 9:12

Got a problem in Houston, yes. What can you when can you leave here in the Houston? Man, I'm on vacation. I'm down in the Gulf. If it's on Friday. Uh-huh. That's we got a problem down there. You got a problem, yes. Okay. All right. Can you can you be ready to can you be ready to head to Houston Monday morning? Yes, I I I we we we was down in the Gulf. I had to get my family. Hey, look, guys, we've been suffering car. Right. All right. Me and the wife got to head home. I gotta head to Houston Monday morning.

SPEAKER_05 9:43

Right.

SPEAKER_02 9:44

What? Yeah, got a problem down there. So I'm getting ready to head home. Get ready to go to Houston. Engineering called me. Hey, hey, right, look, tell you what, since you're on vacation, just hold tight. Just hold tight. Where you at? And we're gonna, we gotta, we got a guy maybe from Canada. We're gonna we're gonna fly down there and we're gonna talk to him and see what see what he came up with. But if we need to, we'll we'll call you back. But when you do come off vacation, kind of be thinking about you, you might have to go to Houston.

SPEAKER_04 10:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 10:14

You know, stuff like that. Um but that was all right, honor, because you know, I had you know got to the point where I had I could do this stuff and and it caused all this stuff comes natural to me. Right, right, right. And uh, you know, stuff like that. So it was many times that happened. Many times. And you know, when we when when I left Newark, when I went to Newark, going to Newark, they said, well, we want you to go up there and we want you to be the insulation in there, insulation testing there. We just want you to go down two or three weeks at the time when we start doing the switch insulation. And uh we go down, you make sure it's going all right. But then came down to it, we would we would have a lot of problems up there. Right. They said, well, you know, and they sent me a lot to say, we want to conform your move to Newark. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. I said, my move to Newark. We ain't talking about that. I said, I'm just going for periods of time. Right, right. So I got what's I got with I got with the home office, you know, the keepers up there. They said, look, we need you to go there full time.

SPEAKER_05 11:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 11:23

We need you to go there full time until the job, until you get all the switches in and get them touched there, or until the job completed.

SPEAKER_05 11:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 11:30

Can you do that? I said, I don't know, man. I said, I gotta talk to my family. Well, talk to your family and uh and let us know. I know they weren't gonna take no for no answer. So what I did, I talked to the wife and uh both my kids. My my daughter was actually my daughter was going to school. She had she had a scholarship to go to school in Alabama, a basketball scholarship.

SPEAKER_04 11:55

Oh, all right.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

And my son was in trade school. And so what we decided, so the wife wouldn't be alone, we decided that that my daughter, we're gonna let her go to school in Carlton for the first for two years.

SPEAKER_05 12:09

Right.

SPEAKER_02 12:10

And she was gonna transfer to Alabama.

SPEAKER_05 12:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 12:12

And so, and in the song was gonna be down. So we kind of worked that out, but I did go. And uh, you know, and that that worked out pretty good. It said, well, we need you now. And that was kind of uh, when I got down, that was kind of rough for me because I saw what was going on and I didn't agree with a lot of the stuff that was happening, just you know, coming off Concourse D down here. Right. But we just three of us just put Concourse D together.

SPEAKER_04 12:40

Right.

SPEAKER_02 12:40

You know, three engineers. I get up there, they got engineers running all over the place, and they got contractor running all over the place, and nobody seemed to know what was going on. You know, and we we I I gotta put in 22 switches up there. And everything on everything on an elevator track. On the elevator, everything on an elevator track. And then I can't even start doing the switch isolation until they get all the electrical stuff done, and these people working out of they're working out of cherry pickles. And I'm like, why are we working out of cherry pickles? Up and down, up and down. Why don't we have scaffolds under each one of these areas? You got everything up there now. You don't you don't have to go up and down in the cherry pickle.

SPEAKER_04 13:24

Right.

SPEAKER_02 13:25

So they kind of they kind of kind of call me in and say, Ron, you you coming from Atlanta, coming from south now. You you coming as you're coming up north now, things don't work the same. And I'm like, well, what do you mean things don't work the same? I'm talking about getting this job done so I can go home.

unknown 13:43

What I'm talking about.

SPEAKER_02 13:45

So at the rate we're going now, I'll be up for the next 10 years. You know, well, we're losing a lot of money up here. I see why. I see why. You got 15 cherry pickles on this job and you run them. Once you had scaffolds set up on each one of these areas, you don't need them cherry pickles.

SPEAKER_04 14:02

Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:02

You ain't spending money on them cherry pickle.

SPEAKER_04 14:04

Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

And I say, then I see a couple other problems thing I don't agree with. I said, you got you got three contractors on the job.

SPEAKER_04 14:11

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 14:12

Three steel contractors on the job. Two of them just here. Two, two, two bandages here.

SPEAKER_04 14:17

Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:17

You, but you only got one contractor here working. Right. What are these other two people here for?

SPEAKER_04 14:22

Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

Same thing with the electrical contractor. I said, I don't agree with that. You know, so they talked about it and kind of gave me a ride after again, well, you know, you're up and off, man. I'm like, okay, I understand that. I understand that. Okay. You can't do no work. I understand that. But I can suggest them thing.

SPEAKER_05 14:42

Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

Well, they did, they took my suggestion. We finally got scaffolds. Put scaffolds up on the area, every area.

SPEAKER_05 14:49

Right.

SPEAKER_02 14:49

And they saw how to work this flooring. So stuff like that. But uh, you know, we we got the job done. Right. I got the switches in, got them all tested, you know, and uh, and after that, they say, we want you to stick around till till July.

SPEAKER_05 15:06

July.

SPEAKER_02 15:07

July. This was in this was coming up in I got the switches there. This was coming up in February, and I told told my son I was gonna be home because he was getting married. I said, I'm gonna be home by February the 14th for your wedding.

SPEAKER_04 15:20

Right.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

Now my job done, but they wanted me to stay down through July. So I said, okay. Uh, but I I called Carolina. That's who that's who I was on the contract to. So we got that worked out. But anyway, it was a good party. But I did, even after that, I went time and time up there. I spent a lot of time down there af after that, you know, doing training, uh, setting up, setting up the maintenance plan and stuff like that, the switches and making some modification on some stuff. Right. And then the union came. I went up and worked during the union, hoping out doing the union. So, so, and that's what kind of landed me into the constructing, to the constructing business. The last five years, last three years, I was doing a lot of that. Plus, I was the quality assurance manager. Yeah, for you know, the last three years.

SPEAKER_04 16:14

Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:14

Everything we did from a quality stamp front went across my desk. Some people didn't didn't like it, but you know, it it it it is what it is, and we got it worked out. And I don't know, I've been out of that now for 11 years, I guess.

SPEAKER_05 16:28

Oh, okay. When did you retire?

unknown 16:31

I retired, I retired April the 30th in 2013. Wow. I retired April the 30th in 2013.

SPEAKER_02 16:42

And it was some things happened. Uh I just I just see if you're not gonna do things according to stomach logic and principle, you might want to leave it alone.

SPEAKER_04 16:52

Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:53

Because it's never gonna be successful. It it won't be successful. It can't be successful if you don't do it. And that's one of the things I really loved about the company. They believe in doing things to the specification.

SPEAKER_05 17:06

Right.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

Have to be done to the specification. And and I and that's that's that's where a lot of my learning came from. And I and I really think, you know, I really thank the company for giving me an opportunity to work for them for that period of time and giving me the opportunity that I had to travel to different field sites, and and they believed it in me that uh when they send me somewhere I can get a job done. And I did. You know, even with the uh when we did the maintenance tax template, you know, Atlanta did that. Oh everything, everything, man, knowing in the company from a maintenance standpoint, it's based off what we were doing in Atlanta. We put that maintenance tax template together. I uh I put it together and then I went to Shovel Meeting. Meeting in Tampa, uh Pittsburgh, and a couple other places, you know, talking about this maintenance tax template. Everybody do they maintenance based on this template. Because we would we we we had the most calls than anybody else. We were doing the most maintenance than anybody else.

SPEAKER_05 18:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 18:15

And our and our uh our monthly operating stomach was higher than anybody else. So we were doing something good and they realized that.

SPEAKER_05 18:26

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 18:26

And they said, well, Leroy, what are we doing? What are we doing? I mean, you guys are so successful. Then here's what we're doing. Here's what we're doing, you know, and and then you know, that also took me places like uh Houston, San Francisco, Vegas, you know, two other field sites, you know, making sure things were being done right according to the specifications. And the bigger one though, when we had the problem in quality numpour. Hey, you you you ready to go to quality them poor? I don't know. Going to Qualinome Poor, yeah. We may meet you to go to Qualin Poor for how long? For maybe about three years. Wow. About three years. Three years. Yes. Uh well, you know what? Could I take my wife with me? Well, that we have to discuss that. Well, how many times will I come home? You probably get a couple couple trips home during period of three years. Right. I said, What's going on out there? He said, Well, we got a problem we need to be solved right now, but we can use you out there for this period of time. Then they decide, well, I'll tell you what, let's let's work this problem out first. So can you can you be at your desk on Monday morning, every Monday morning at seven o'clock for a conference call.

SPEAKER_05 19:39

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 19:40

They had a problem out there around and uh, and and it was a problem again with switch insulation. And I told them right away what the problem was, just like they told me what happened. Okay, so let's just let's just get kind of low-key there. We'll we'll go through, we'll go through the we'll go through the uh the meeting. Before we can get the system going again, we gotta assure the customer it's not gonna happen again.

SPEAKER_04 20:08

Right.

SPEAKER_02 20:09

So whatever your inputs are, we want you to we want your inputs, we want you to be on the phone call every Monday morning. So I did that for about a month and a half, you know, every Monday morning I was on a on the phone call, you know, going through that. And and you know, all this modification we did down in Atlanta, because we was on grade and wasn't put into the design. And I have some good people working with me on that from Millionaire, like Ed Crew, Mark Street with them guys, because we had to we had to change the whole design for the for the pilot officers and even with the twin table. Right. We had to work through.

unknown 20:43

But but we did it. And and and going through that, uh, and they know I was the only guy working on that here in Atlanta. You know, what's the end there in Pittsburgh? I think that that that gave me a lot of credibility. Right. And and they trusted me. Whatever I told them I was gonna do, we would get it done.

SPEAKER_04 21:05

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_02 21:05

And that's that's that's why they would that's why they were calling on me, even when we raked the car down there. You know, that was my I did that project.

unknown 21:13

And and at the time I did that project, they also wanted me back in Vegas. I had been in Vegas for what, three weeks. And then they wanted me back in Vegas. Back in Vegas.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

Yeah, I said we we meet you, we need you here for for about a year and a half. And uh I said, well, you know what, I got a car in there and I'm working on a frame, but getting a frame done on it. I I won't be able to go until sometime after March.

SPEAKER_04 21:41

Right.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

And the check with my boss then. And the check said, you think you can go after that? I said, Yeah, but I gotta get this car fixed. And uh they told him they it would be after March before he could come. So then they they did bring a guy in from Canada down there, and it that was just a a matter of um. Getting all the documents together and put them in a you know, all the test specs and stuff. That was that was a big deal.

unknown 22:07

Right.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

That's a big deal for the customer to have them those documents and and and knowing that the stuff worked.

SPEAKER_05 22:14

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

The day when I did, when we did that 100,000 cycle tests, we had to do a hundred thousand cycle tests on one of this, one of the switches in New York.

unknown 22:23

Oh, okay. Um well the switch ran for 21 hours straight. Uh 24-7, 24-7, over and back, over and back, over and back. So that was, you know, it was it was it was a big project, but yeah, again, I I thank the company for giving me the opportunity to um be part of that.

SPEAKER_02 22:43

Right. For trusting me to get it done. You know, now I I I had to do some things that um, you know, I'm I'm not gonna say my family wasn't pleased with it, but the fact that I uh, you know, when I moved to New York, my wife was still working. And uh, but I had I had I set up my own schedule where I could come home every weekend. But they they I'm sure they knew I want to get buried out pretty quick. I was about to throw me that we're buried out, but I got with that with um the travel department, called Western High had it on travel right.

SPEAKER_05 23:22

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 23:23

And I got with them and told me, hey, look, give me a ticket this week and put my wife a ticket on wheel call the next week. I thought I wanted to do that for me on the end. Just put her a wheel call every two weeks, give her a ticket on wheel call up there. And I and I kept a ticket. So I would come home one weekend, the next weekend, she would come and see me. I'll go home the next week, the next weekend, she would come and see me. So that worked out pretty good in the company that did that. But um, that's what got me into what I'm doing now with the constructing work. I do everything based on stylological principles. But then people say, Well, how can you construct on everything?

SPEAKER_05 24:00

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

I said, because I do it on stylological principle.

SPEAKER_05 24:03

Right.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

You know, if you do it on, and I know what stylological principle means. A lot of folks don't know what that means. Oh. You know, and and and and and that's why they they don't understand it. They don't know what that means. But you know for yourself, whatever you want to do, it's a stumbler for it somewhere.

SPEAKER_05 24:21

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 24:21

I don't care what it is. It's a stumbler, it's already been proven with a stumbler. If you buy a bicycle and you bring that bicycle home and put it together, you got some instruction.

SPEAKER_04 24:32

Right.

SPEAKER_02 24:33

How that bicycle go together. And the instruction came from the manufacturer of that bicycle. And it's already been set up. And that's it's the same way with everything. With everything. And then the logic part is nothing but the reason for doing it. You know, a legitimate reason for doing it. But the biggest thing is principles. And this is where the downfall comes for a lot of companies. They have people in jobs that they have no knowledge of what has to be done. Right. That's a big that's a big. That's why a lot of companies today go on them. Go on them. I I see, and I can't I can't buy that because if you're in a job and you don't know the details of that job, how can you make it happen? Right. You can't do it. It's impossible.

SPEAKER_04 25:25

Right.

SPEAKER_02 25:25

It's impossible. I I had a I had a manager tell me one, he asked me about a guy, as for his work. He said, What do you think about that guy's work? Is he doing a good job? I said, No, he's not doing a good job. He said, Well, I think he's doing a good job. I said, Well, I don't. Oh, okay. He said, Why don't you think you're doing a good job? I said, Listen, let me tell you something. I said, the perception you have about a person doing a job is only good at the knowledge that you have with the job.

SPEAKER_05 25:56

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 25:57

So, so your perception, he's doing well. But my perception is not because I know what the job consists of.

SPEAKER_04 26:03

Right, right.

SPEAKER_02 26:03

You know, that's why I can tell you, no, you don't know the job. So, but you look at him, you say, Well, I think he's doing a good job. Now you tell me what you know about the job. Well, I see what I'm talking about. So and and that's with anything, uh, that's with anything. The perception that you have about me is only good at the knowledge you have of me.

SPEAKER_05 26:26

Right.

SPEAKER_02 26:27

And that that makes don't that make sense?

SPEAKER_05 26:29

That makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 26:29

And and those are the three things I would say, even in my church today. I it's what I did for my company, working, I do the same thing for my church right today. You can ask it about it in my church. Now I'm I'm the I'm the I'm the media guy. Like what you're doing right now? Right. That's what I do. I do all the media, I do all the sound. Uh, you know, we we have electronic signboard, cellular, electronic signboard. Right. We just upgraded it about a year ago. We we had it running, running off Wi-Fi. I mean running through computer, computer controls set up set up in the in the office. But I say, hey guy, we gotta we we we can beat this. We can go cellular. And we don't have to sit down in the office and program the program the signboard. If we go cellular, we can program it from in and where we are. Use our cell phone. And so I checked, I'm like, okay, sign company. I I need to upgrade on this sign. I need to upgrade on this sign. What do you got? Well, we got cellular upgrade, right? And what great, how about cellular? Oh, yeah, I can do cellular. And uh, okay, I want the cellular. What it gonna cost me? Well, I I can give you cellular, change a little hardware, you know, and change your controller and and change your power supply, and you I can give you a lifetime plan for about $4,000. How can you how can you beat that?

SPEAKER_05 27:51

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_02 27:52

The only thing about it, you gotta do your own upgrade. Right, right. I will give y'all the support unique. Well, you know, we we don't come out. We just, you know, we we we'll video and we give y'all support unique.

SPEAKER_04 28:05

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_02 28:06

You know, oh that was wonderful. And and now I if I wanted to right now, if I wanted to change something on our electronic signboard, I can set right here, pull it up, come on, and I can change it from right here. You know, so stuff like that. And and and that's what I do in the church. Um, you know, so I in and and when it ain't there, when they ain't there, the phone ranging.

SPEAKER_05 28:28

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

You know, I mean, a couple months ago I I I had a court bait with my with my nephew, uh, and they had a funeral. We had a funeral at our church, and they called me, you, you, you come to the funeral? No, I'm not gonna be there. So, all right, we got some problems. What do you got? That's what we're kind of trying to do. We're trying to play some not one of the other operators there either. No. All right, listen to me. Listen for them to tell you. I want you to do exactly what I'm gonna tell you. I sat there and told them how to do what they needed to do. You know, I mean it it's it's all good. I I don't I don't brag, I don't just pat myself on the back. But going through what I went through with the continent, learning what I learned, how to be thorough. Right, how to be thorough in in using specification, that would the biggest thing if if it put me what I am, what I do now in life. And I and I really appreciate the continent for having that opportunity.

SPEAKER_05 29:30

All right. Now, what would you say to a young man that's uh wants to get into the company and wanted to prosper in the company, what would you tell what what advice do you have for him?

SPEAKER_02 29:44

Well, this is the advice I would give him. If he comes, naturally, if he gets hired, he's gonna get hired based on some kind of merit. Whether it be he's whether or not he'd be an electronic guy or mechanical guy. And the advice I would get him, go into this company because this is uh um a rentable company, a very retible company. And this company is a transportation company. And when you deal with transportation, you move in people's. That's a big liability.

SPEAKER_04 30:19

Right.

SPEAKER_02 30:19

Big liability. So you can't you can't take the job for granted. You gotta learn all you can about the job and listen to the people who've already been there. If you don't think they're telling you something that's gonna help you, don't flounce it off. Listen to them. And then go and learn for yourself and decide whether or not they told you whether it's true or not.

SPEAKER_04 30:48

Right.

SPEAKER_02 30:49

I mean, you you you know how to you know how to fact-check. You can fact-check anything, and but learn all you can. And if they company want you to do something, don't, don't, don't buckle up. Because you're moving in a direction where they ain't gonna ask you to do something that they wouldn't do. And learn all you can, and you can you can uh farewell in this company.

SPEAKER_05 31:13

Right.

SPEAKER_02 31:14

But you gotta let it be known.

SPEAKER_05 31:16

Right.

SPEAKER_02 31:16

Known by your work, known by your attitude, and known by how you carry your stuff. I got I got things at the house now that were given to me by the company and by the Department of Aviation about me. I I I took pictures of them. I thought to bring them with them, but I took pictures of them saying about my character. I even received a letter from Ben Castos when he was out for Mandy. Right. Being the cops when he was out for Mandy. I didn't even I went to uh I went to uh out of name half. They didn't even know I was gonna get it. I'm just just hanging out, you know, standing at the table, you know, having a having a cocktail and and somebody say, said, say, say being the coffee just call your name. Are you sure? He's like, yeah, he just called your name. He said again, where's where's Mr. Leroy Ralphson? I'm like, what this is about? So I got up, he's come on up here. He said, huh, this is a ward for you. Customer service award. Oh, okay. Like, are you kidding me? No. And and and other stuff like that. Uh huh. Letters from the head of the company saying, thanking me for the time I put in. And then on my um on my retirement thing they gave me, they really highlighted I left a mark on the company that others should be willing to govern themselves by. That's just the way I was, uh I didn't I didn't turn down no. When I when I first went to work at the company, Chuck Adam, he told me one day, even before I got promoted, he said, um, he said, I don't know, he said, but you one of them people have uh, you have to got a camera in your a camera in your mind. He said, You don't he said you don't forget nothing. He said, if you continue to to do what you've been doing, he said you go in this company. He said, as a matter of fact, I'm gonna be here for a while. He said, I'm gonna recommend that you uh have the management position on third show. And he did and uh he went even to my last day's work suck. Used to come down and and when something went on, he would call me and and he would ask me about certain things when I when that car got wrecked and I had to repair that car. He came down and him and I got together and he gave me all the things I needed to do and to to get this uh get this car fixed, get the frame fixed. I took him to the frame company over and we talked, we had a meeting, and he's some he's some confidence he's gonna get it done. And we did get it done. You know, you know, it was uh it was amazing, run the 33 years I waited for him. It should amazing run. I didn't I had a couple bad experience, but then I reali I I thought I did, but I realized they wasn't bad experience at all.

SPEAKER_05 34:32

Right.

SPEAKER_02 34:33

You know, uh they they wasn't bad at all. It was it was it was, you know, God don't make no mistakes and you own them nothing wrong and it turned out fine. So that's that's the way it worked out with them, and you know, and I've had I've had the opportunity to go back and work for the company, but not through the company. Through a company out of Carolina that that is on the contract to the Apple. Right. You know, so I got an opportunity to go back and work at the Apple. But I don't want to I wouldn't mind going back. I I don't want to go back and work. I would like to do consulting work. Oh, yeah. You know, I'd like to do consulting. And and and I don't I don't know what's going on out down there. I know we got new power distribution uh equipment and uh nothing new equipment, but uh, you know, whatever I need to do to get myself restored on that, it won't it wouldn't be hard to do.

SPEAKER_04 35:18

So I just thank Western House for and Western House Bombardier and WTD and Ad Trend.

unknown 35:26

The name changing we went through. Yeah, many name changes.

SPEAKER_02 35:29

And and I and I put them against any company. Just any company, any company, you know.

SPEAKER_05 35:34

So I know uh a little time is uh pretty much up, and uh we we'll get back talking again, and uh I appreciate the uh conversation that it was very important. Oh, okay. Very important.

SPEAKER_02 35:48

You know, Arnold, it's the thing as well. I know you've been at the company a long time, and I know you feel pretty much the same way I do.

unknown 35:57

And this was the third job I had in my life. And and I had haven't had another one. Right. You know, I had a job at Unorroy, and I had a job at Franklin Product.

SPEAKER_04 36:06

When I left Franklin Franklin Product, I came to Weston's House.

SPEAKER_02 36:11

Right. Western House came to the job while I was working there. It made me offered on the private. Right, right. Yeah, yeah. So it's been wonderful.

SPEAKER_05 36:21

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:22

It's been wonderful, and I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_05 36:23

I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_02 36:24

I enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_05 36:25

Appreciate the talk.

SPEAKER_02 36:26

Oh yeah, oh yeah.

SPEAKER_05 36:27

Hopefully everything works out for you.

SPEAKER_02 36:29

Oh yeah, it will, Arnold. I mean, you know, long I got people like you can can put a word in for me. Oh yeah, oh yeah. I know it will, I know it will. This uh, you know, and um, you know what, Arnold, I'm proud of you, man.

SPEAKER_05 36:42

Oh, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 36:43

I I'm proud of all the guys I work with, but you know for yourself, there's some of the people that I ain't gonna say I had pictures, I had lack likes, but it was a thing where I had some people that I that was really put a fuck. You, Jasper, uh uh Kenny, Kenny Burr, still someone. Oh, Kenny still worked with the company. But I think he worked from home. Yeah, you know, and uh DJ, DJ. DJ is still there.

SPEAKER_05 37:15

Now he's the uh uh CCO supervisor.

SPEAKER_02 37:18

Is he? Okay. Well see, cops, and and the reason for that, uh you can you can that one of the things the company learned you how to how to how to how to jury character in people. Right.

SPEAKER_05 37:28

You know, right.

SPEAKER_02 37:29

And uh, and I really, I really had hopefully. I knew you guys were gonna be alright without a doubt. Because you were smart. Right. You didn't turn down no job. Job didn't get too hard for you. Oh no. And I knew you were gonna be alright. I never heard you grumble, I never heard you fuss, I never heard you say a bad word. So the time I known you. Same thing with DJ.

SPEAKER_05 37:52

Right.

SPEAKER_02 37:52

You know, uh uh, you know, you know, them people like and I knew they were gonna, I know they're gonna they're gonna they're gonna be alright.

SPEAKER_05 37:58

Right. Be alright.

SPEAKER_02 37:59

And I know they will have a job there long when they want to.

SPEAKER_05 38:01

Right.

SPEAKER_02 38:02

And that's the way Kenny Kenny worried is. Oh yeah. You know, and so and I I really'm glad to know you guys, glad to be acquainted with you. So you tell them guys about them, right?

SPEAKER_00 38:13

Oh yeah, I always always we thank you for listening to this episode of the Train Man ATL Chronicles Podcast. The Train Man will have more interviews, more inspirations, and more understanding of being a stepfather. Check out our website, www.williams.org, for updates. God bless you and have a blessed day.