WT Mercier and Mac McCarthy

By Fred Boland, Machinist 1928-1980
Bayshore Shops, Southern Pacific Railroad

One of our older machinists named McCarthy was put in the air gang to clean triple valves until he turned 65 and could take his pension.

He would  put a valve in the vise, cinch it up and lean back on the vise handle, to look over the shop. When he saw someone in authority coming he would get busy. He did one or two triples a day. The rest of us had to do one every half hour.

Every three years or so the president of the SP would inspect the Bayshore plant. One day about 1944 Mac spotted WT Mercier and his entourage coming. He immediately got busy. The President stopped and inquired of Mac his name. Shaking his hand, Mercier said, "Mr. McCarthy, I don't know what the Southern Pacific would do without you old timers on the job".

After that, until he pulled the pin, we called him "Mac Mercier."