We've talked before about how tough it is to stay awake on slow nights. Everyone has their own tricks. One Sgt was a stargazer. He'd sit for hours staring at the heavens. Trouble was, he stared so long he became convinced he was seeing flying saucers and became a nut on the subject.
Sleepers have been mentioned. Others rigged up portable reading lamps in their cars. Some ate till they earned nicknames like Roundy and Bucket Butt. Then there were the one's who were truly inventive. Sam Bass was the Tom Edison here.
Sam, then a Sgt, later the Chief, gave me a call one dreary night. "How 'bout you 56 (meet) me over at 5th Ave North and the tracks." I complied. (The railroad tracks then followed, generally, Goodlette Road, to the north, until the road ended at Pine Ridge Road)
Sam motioned me to park my cruiser off the road. He had his car turned sideways in the road, sitting on the asphalt crossing, aimed up the railroad track. "Ever ride the rails?" he said, flashing that wonderful Sam Bass grin.
"Nope," I said, wondering what he had in mind.
"I found out if you line these Chevies up just right the tires hang over the rails, keeping the thing in place and you can ride it like it was a train."
"Huh?"
"No stuff," Sam said. "Wanna try?"
If this worked as Sam said, there was little danger. The train only ran once a day, in the afternoon. And it just crept along, since we'd given it a ticket for speeding. No kiddin', we did. Had to, couldn't keep the engineer from speeding through the uncontrolled crossings.
Anyway, I helped Sam line up the car just right, got in, and away we went. It was the best automobile ride I've ever taken.
Never had a smoother ride. And, it took very little engine power to propel the car along, so there was no noise. Sam, of course, didn't have to steer. We cruised at about 15 MPH--didn't want to get a ticket--up to the Pine Ridge crossing, and got off. After that night, when the city was dead asleep, we took many rides, sometimes going as far as Bonita. I even learned how to do it by myself.
What a waste of time, you say. Jackasses at play! Maybe, but there was benefit from the training. We'd received a call one morning that a burglar had just been routed in a North Naples home, and was running away up the railroad right-of-way. Since there was no parallel road beyond Pine Ridge, officers were trying find a motorcycle or something to give chase. My partner, Ken Mulling, and I heard the call, radioed to never mind. We'd ride the rails.
We put our car on the tracks at Pine Ridge, and began the chase. No one could've been more surprised than our desperado when, some miles up the tracks, he looked back and saw an unmarked police car, blue light flashing, closing on him. So surprised was he to see the unique method of transportation, that he just stood there, stupid and staring, until we put him under arrest.
Always wondered what he told his fellow convicts in prison about how he got caught. "Guess you might say I got caught by detectives in a loco-mobile."
Sleepers have been mentioned. Others rigged up portable reading lamps in their cars. Some ate till they earned nicknames like Roundy and Bucket Butt. Then there were the one's who were truly inventive. Sam Bass was the Tom Edison here.
Sam, then a Sgt, later the Chief, gave me a call one dreary night. "How 'bout you 56 (meet) me over at 5th Ave North and the tracks." I complied. (The railroad tracks then followed, generally, Goodlette Road, to the north, until the road ended at Pine Ridge Road)
Sam motioned me to park my cruiser off the road. He had his car turned sideways in the road, sitting on the asphalt crossing, aimed up the railroad track. "Ever ride the rails?" he said, flashing that wonderful Sam Bass grin.
"Nope," I said, wondering what he had in mind.
"I found out if you line these Chevies up just right the tires hang over the rails, keeping the thing in place and you can ride it like it was a train."
"Huh?"
"No stuff," Sam said. "Wanna try?"
If this worked as Sam said, there was little danger. The train only ran once a day, in the afternoon. And it just crept along, since we'd given it a ticket for speeding. No kiddin', we did. Had to, couldn't keep the engineer from speeding through the uncontrolled crossings.
Anyway, I helped Sam line up the car just right, got in, and away we went. It was the best automobile ride I've ever taken.
Never had a smoother ride. And, it took very little engine power to propel the car along, so there was no noise. Sam, of course, didn't have to steer. We cruised at about 15 MPH--didn't want to get a ticket--up to the Pine Ridge crossing, and got off. After that night, when the city was dead asleep, we took many rides, sometimes going as far as Bonita. I even learned how to do it by myself.
What a waste of time, you say. Jackasses at play! Maybe, but there was benefit from the training. We'd received a call one morning that a burglar had just been routed in a North Naples home, and was running away up the railroad right-of-way. Since there was no parallel road beyond Pine Ridge, officers were trying find a motorcycle or something to give chase. My partner, Ken Mulling, and I heard the call, radioed to never mind. We'd ride the rails.
We put our car on the tracks at Pine Ridge, and began the chase. No one could've been more surprised than our desperado when, some miles up the tracks, he looked back and saw an unmarked police car, blue light flashing, closing on him. So surprised was he to see the unique method of transportation, that he just stood there, stupid and staring, until we put him under arrest.
Always wondered what he told his fellow convicts in prison about how he got caught. "Guess you might say I got caught by detectives in a loco-mobile."
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