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Beefing up Butte Thanks to a recent special maintenance project. the Butte line should hold its own much more ably against the natural elements that would corrode it.

When winter h its Wyoming, it hits hard. It hits li ke when you drop an ice-cube tray on your foot. None of that Cu rrier and Ives winter w onder­land stuff, where everybody's out throwing snowballs and looking not

in th e least bit chill y. Looking downright warm, even,

No, when winter hits Wyoming, it does so in

that seaso n 's best tra­d i ti ons: the w ind screams , s now flakes

sting like so many we ll -aime d B-B s, roads get sJicker'n a

grease spot on wet ti le, and d r ift s

pile up two ways - deep and deeper. But most of all, worst of all , it just gets cold

- teeth-chattering, knee-knock in g,

ea r·freez ing, eye­water ing , wea ther­cuss ing col d. So, as big Gene Aber­

nathy, usually an easy­goi ng sort, wiped the sweat

Gene Abernathy, Centra l Division corrosion maintenance supervisor, reads the level of cathodic protec­tion delivered to pipe at Hat Creek station in eastern Wyoming. A por­lion of the Butte Line specia l main­tenance project involved replacing the equipment that supplies such protection against corrosion .

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from his brow and su rveyed the si tua­tion on a surprisingly warm day in late Sep tember before the sno ws came, he had to have all that on his mind . He had to finish this special maintenance on the Butte Pipe Line before winter set in , or it wouldn' t get don e till s pring . And that just wouldn't do.

The day before, up at Hulett station about 75 miles no~th of Newcastle, Wyo. , the crew drilling the ground­beds fo r the new cathodic protection anodes hi t rock and couldn' t bore through. One day lost. Now, the crew, ha vin g moved 80 miles south of Newcastl e to Hat Creek Station, had just hit rock aga in and nobody was too happy about it.

The heck of the matter was that Gene, corros ion maintenance super­visor, and h is inspectors were just that much shy of wrapping up the special maintenance project. They 'd alread y installed new tank bottom coatings at seve ral spots along the 25-year-old Butte line, and they'd al­ready replaced some pipe that pres­sure testing showed to be weak. Other n ew gro und beds had g one i n smooth ly, but these last two were th rea ten ing to tie things up but good.

Luckil y, says Gene , back in hi s comfortable Mid land, Texas office, they didn't. "The grou nd bed at Hulett we had to rearra nge com­pletely, but we managed to pu t in without having to use dynamite or anything. The ground bed at Hat

Creek the crews laid in pretty easily, once it turned out that the rock we hit was just that-one rock, not a whole layer of it. We just repositioned the auger and went back after it. But I'll tell you, it had us worried. We sure didn 't want to be out there when the tempera ture star ted dropping. You ever been out in winter up here? Man, it's enough to make you wa nt to stay inside.

"Other than worrying about the weather," he continu es, " the tough­est thing about a project like this , where you have several phases of work going on at once over a spread­out area, is{;oordina ting the work and material. That's mostly my job. Once I do that, my work's about done. Our inspectors and the contract crews­they do most of the rea l work, and they do it well. The inspectors, for in­stance, have a lot of years of experi­ence between them, and you know that when they set to a job, it's go ing to be done right."

The maintenance on the Butte line , which carries crude some 312 miles fro m southern Montana down to Ft. Larami e , Wyo., was conducted in three overlapping phases.

The first enta il ed recoa tin g tank bottoms at gathering and pumping stati ons. "After 25 years of continual service, you can pretty much expect some coating deterioration," says Gene. "Part of our on-going corrosion prevention program is to install new tank bottom coati ngs when tests in-

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, .... . ...;;a ;" ... ''';. « , (Above) InSI)ector Joe Lewis (I) and Larry Beal, owner of a corrosion control contract outfit, examine a chunk of the soil they had to drill through to install new groundbeds. (Below) Part orlhe scenery around the Hat Creek s tation are the man y antelope that caB that remote territory home. ,

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dicate it's time ." Work on the bottoms s ta rt ed in June a nd ran thro ug h August. In all , six we re replaced: three at Baker, two at Osage and one at Al zeta. " It ca n be one messy job," says Gene.

True eno ugh, judging by his de­scription . First, a tank is empti ed of oil. What's left is referred to as BS&W - bas ic sed iment and water, a gooey mixtu re th at has to be scooped and drag ged out by hand. T he bottom coatin g is then scraped , hammered and sandblasted off. Any fl aws in the tank bottom itself are repa ired by welders. An epoxy primer is sprayed on to re tard oxidati on , after which a thick layer of polyester is applied with paint rollers. Next, a gla ss mat is la id down, pressed into place and al­lowed to cure for 24 hours. Followi ng another inspection for flaws, the bot­tom is fl ood-coated with a mixture of polyester resin and wax.

"That work we nt well ," says Ge ne, "although it's not what you'd con­sider fas t work. You don 't want to rush through it, because any mista kes are hard to correct and take a lot of time . "

The project's second phase, com­pleted in late August , in volved p res­sure testing about 2.5 mil es of 12-inch pipe between Pine Station and Baker.

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Pipeliner Laura Albright stands atop one of the six tanks that got new bottom coatings. The tanks shown here are at Osage station.

By pushing pressure within the line up to around 1,000 psi, crews ex­posed two spots on the line weakened by internal corrosion. These sections were cut out and replaced.

The third phase replaced 19 aging ground beds and reclifers used to re­duce corrosion on buried pipelines. Groundbeds are compr ised of a number of cylindrical graphite ,

anodes buried near the pipeline. A DC current (changed to DC from AC by the rectifiers located topside) is sent through the anodes which, without getting 1:00 much into the physics of it, reverses the electric po­tential of the pipe's steel walls and keeps them from rusting too fast.

Anodes have to ' be replaced once they get too old and corroded them-

selves to transmit that current above a certain level. The new anodes in­stalled in this case measure 80 inches long , four inches in diameter, and re­semble old-style window weights . They were buried 20 feet down to put them below the frost line.

Putting in new anodes is not so hard if you can just keep from hitting rocks on the .way down," says Joe Lewis, an inspector on the project. "But when you're working in terrain like this (he motions to an expanse of wind-swept, barren prairie where, quite literally, the deer and the an­telope play) you never know what you're going to run into."

Also working with Gene on the project were Carl Gast, technical su­perintendent, and a host of corrosion department inspectors: Jim Diller, George Fourqurean , Elvin Hester, Billy Hodges, Bill Merritt and Jerry Newnham. Inspectors Randy Dinges and Ivan Losing from the Rocky Mountain District also lent a hand.

"The work all of us did on the Butte line ought to keep it in pretty good shape for a long while," says Gene. "It's not glamorous work by any means , but it is mighty important. I'm just glad we got it done before the snow hit. We were lucky," he grins, switching to a contented, good-ol'­boy drawl. "It weren't nothin' but sunshine'n flowers." ...

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A cut above the others If you catch cutting horse trainer Ray Barefield at home, sit back and watch

him practice. If you catch him at a contest, sit back and watch him win. I

Two employees out in We st Texas pursue what many would consider rat her unorthodox leisure-time ac­tivities. One of th em, Joe Hall, a rodeo ridel; you met in th e la st iss ue. This time, you ' lJ meet the second fellow, a man whose off-hoUl's al so find him working around horses and cattie, but in a very different way.

It seem s impossibl e that the 1,200 pounds of lathered, panting, twist­ing, turning horse fl esh at the far end of the corral can keep hi s balance so beautifully, but he does, Always he is before the calf, eyes fixed on its head. Always, as the ca lf cuts one way to get past him, so too does the horse cut , barring its way.

The calf is fast , to be sure. But the horse is faster, his pounding hooves hurling the soft dirt of the corral high into the air like rich , organic confetti.

No, it doesn' t appear the ca lf will get by this time. He's been cut from the herd he's trying so hard to get back into, and this horse is obviously de­termined to see that he stays cut.

But then, as if responding to that latent instinct for evas i ve manuevers that all animals seem to possess to one degree or another, the calf stops cold , a gambit whose abruptness he apparently expects to surprise th e horse into a mom ent's indecision. And a moment is all he 'll need.

No go, The horse knows this par­ticular move perfectl y well and puts the brakes on a split second after the ca lf, They stand, motionl ess, face to fa ce, il t the far end of the corral. Three seconds. Five seco nd s. The calf tenSes . And ... now! The calf makes a fren zied bolt to the right , at a dead run almost before it's physically pos­s ible. !lut the horse, undaunte d , is right there with him , Indeed, this

horse wi ll always be right there , if fo r no other reason than the man riding him trained him to be. The man rid­ing him took him when he didn 't know how to do mu ch more than run hard and turned him into what amo unts to a hi g h per formance sports car wi th hooves. That is, he turned him into a cutting horse.

Th e ma n ri din g him i s Ra y !la refie ld, a Central Division em­ployee whose rep utation as breeder and trainer of quality cutting horses has been growing for some time, both on th e far-flung contest circuit and throughout the sprawling West Texas area in which he li ves and works.

It is an imposing area in a ru stic 1 ki nd of way, so rt of classically "West­

ern" in topography and flora: gently rolling prairie sprou ting (wherever it isn't cultivated) mile after mi le of sagebrush , cactus and other stuff you wou ldn 't want to land on if you fell

After about five minules of this. that big white bull started getting cranky. Note how the horse is keying on the bull's head .

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The herd, as seen by horse and rider,

off a horse. Except for occasional windmills, the most noticeable inter­ruption in the land's green-brown fabric are gnarled little trees I

(glorified bushes, really) that give lit­tle aesthetic pleasure to look at, and even less shade. For Ray Barefield , this sparse, spacious landscape is home.

A pipeliner at Roberts Station, a small pump outpost about twenty miles south of Big Spring , Ray de­votes the better part of his off-hours to his cutting horses. It's a demanding pastime, one that calls for more phys­i cal and mental effort than many would care to put into regular jobs, let alone a hobby.

Then again , to refer to Ray's work with horses as mere hobby is clearly understating the case. It goes much deeper than that.

"] guess] do it for a couple of rea­sons," says Ray, a lean , laid-back type

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Once he mounts up, Ray's smiling visage is replaced by one of absolute concentration .

who looks so much like a cowboy his horses probably do what he tells them out of sheer respect for tradition. "I love the challenge, for one thing. Training thelTI isn't easy, but it's one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. When you've taught a horse to cut cattle, you've taught him some­thing worth knowing. You've made him a better horse.

"And it 's beautiful. When you watch a really good cutting horse work out, it's like watching a ballet.

"Plus ," he adds , almost as an after­thought , "I love winning contests ­beating people who are supposed to be tough to beat. Last month, in Odessa,] beat a horse somebody paid $300,000 for. Now, that'stun."

Not many people could do that after just seven years of training , but Ray's background left him well ­suited for the task. Born 44 years ago in Gilbert , La. , Ray found himself

hanging out at rodeos whenever he wasn't hanging out at the town's three hot spots-two stores and a fil­ling station. Although he first started riding bulls for fun , he decided to start competing when he hit 15. Soon, he was straddling bucking broncs, as well. He rodeoed off and on through the years , joining Shell in 1964. He gave up bull riding in 1966 after one tore up his shoulder, but kept w ith bronc riding for a while. His natural curios ity in the world of cutting horses got the better of him in 1973, when he started applying his general knowledge in matters equine to the finer points of training. And he took to it.

"A couple of friends showed me everything they could," says Ray, "but mostly] just did it on my own, reading everything] could find.] also made it a point to go and watch the guys who were tough. ] kept at it. A

lot of what [learned, I learned by trial and error."

More trial than error, if his record tells us anything. From hi s first time out in 1973, when he won $500 in a small meet in southern Arizona, Ray has steadil y taken home his fair share of the loot. If he doesn't own any $300,000 horses himself yet, odds are that he will. It just takes time, and Ray Barefield is a patient man.

"You've gat to be patient," says Ray, who raises his voice only for a reason , only for effect. "If you're not, you'll never get a horse to cut right and you'll never be a very good rider.

"Now, you take my horse , Snake. When I first got Snake, he wouldn't even look at a cow. He'd run off. So,

, what [ did (and here, Ray is getting

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into the nuts and bolts of cutting horse training) was to put him in a 40-acre trap and make him run at just one, so he 'd get used to running up to ca ttle. Then [ kept putting him in sma ller and smaller pens, making him get in close. But to do that calmly, he had to trust me, so I could never hurt him and I had to be consistent with the commands I gave him."

Those commands range from gen­tl e pressure with th e knees to moving the reins about halfway up the horse's neck, the signal to drive a ce rtain cow out of the herd and keep it separated.

" The basic step to training any cut­ting parse is to convince him that the cow will always follow its head­that where the head goes, the body I

goes. You teach him to cue on that.

Ray's wife, Virginia. also enjoys the work involved in the bl'ceding and training affine horses. Here. she looks after one of their best: Snake.

"It's also good to work them in a round pen, where the cow can't get past them so easily. This is impor­tant because if you instill in a young horse the idea that he can't be beaten , that no calf is smart eno ugh to get by him, then he 'll start to believe it him­self. It's as mu ch psychological as anything ."

The rider has a lot to lea rn , too. " It can be very tiring , both mentally and physically," says Ray. " Physically, because you have to learn not to fight the horse, to move with him. Men­tally, because you have to get your mind right, just like he does. You don't ever want to lose your temper, which is something I used to have a tendency to do. If you're working a young horse, you ought to call it a day if yo u start getting mad. They're kind of like kids in that they're very im­pressionable and have very short at­tention spans.

" You also ha ve to realize that every horse is an individual, with his own personality and style. Some trainers try to put them in a box and have them all come out the same way, but that isn't fair to the animals. I try to teach them the right defensive moves to do a good job , th e n let them develop their own style doing it. "

Right now, Ray owns eight horses, some for training, some for breeding. "Eventually, after I retire from Shell Pipe Line, I want to have my own cut­ting horse ranch , where I can breed and train quality stock full-time. I'd only have about 10 mares, but I'd want top-notch blood lines."

For now, Ray just wants to keep training and winning. "One of my big goals is to win the National Cutting Horse Association futurity in I't. Worth. If I could win that one, I'd be happy."

To do that, Ray knows he's got to keep at it, getting his horses so fast and fine-tuned that he'll have trouble staying in the saddle.

"Once they start getting hard to ride, once they sta rt making their moves before you can even tell them to , then you know they' re getting the han g of it. A really good cutting horse ca n flat stick your head in the dirt sometimes.

"And I ought to know," he says with a laugh and a shake of his head, " because I've been there." ...

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pipelin~eople

Shrimp boil: fine food, fun

It smelled better 'n a Ca jun kitchen in Mike UbI 's Houma , La. backyard when about 50 pipeline friends and kin got together recently for a shrimp boil held in honor of nothing in particu lar.

Ubi, a materials expediter for the Clovelly pump station, sa id shrimp and crab boils have always gone over big with Gulf Coast Division em­ployees, and judging from the amount of marine life and cold beer put away at this one , that statement still holds very true.

Sympathy C. Jack Hogue, who retired from Sholl Pipe Line on Oct. 1,1962, died Oct. 1. He is sur­vived by his widow, Mary lO, o f 512 S. Sixth, Heal d ton, Okla. , 734:38. Paul Cantrell obviously enjoyed his duties as a cherat the shrimp boil.

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Sugary tanker takes the cake To help him better commem­orale his wedding day. mem­bers of the S t. Jam es oil movements group presented transfer attendant Brent Fon­tenot wi th a beautiful cake decorated in tru e pipeline style with a pecten and an oil tanker. Pictured at left , the cel­ebrators are (from left); Wayne Gravo is , Lorraine Lewi s, Oli vier Dufresne, Brent, Ran­dall Zeringue, Claude Gau t­rea u and Paula Zeringue. Not pictured are Ri chard Amedee , Ronald Bourgeois and Brent's wife, Louise .

Tykeliners

Cheryl and William K. Roberds, sta tio n attendant " At! . Newbern, had their third child Aug. 1 with the birth of Ashleigh Lauren, 7 pound s, 4 ounces, 20 inches. Ash leigh, who has two brothers ­Wyatt , 9, and Austin , 4 - is the first Roberds girl born in 23 years.

Gloria and Clarence Hebert, mechani cal techni­cian , St. James, announce the b ir th of th e ir first child , Fran ces Clare , on Aug. 9. Frances measured in at 4 pounds, 12 ounces, 18 inches.

Cindy and Steve R. Fussell , employee rel ations analys t, New Orleans, had their first child Aug. 11 with the birth of Elizabeth Holley, 8 pounds, 8 ounces, 20 inches.

mil~osts

Personnel Changes

HO

L. P. Gautreau from oil Mvrnt. Cont. to Oil Mvmt. Sched. from GCD-Norco , La. to HO-Oil Movements

E.K. Russell from Auditor to Finan. Spec. Treasury

CD

) .D. Busby Pipeliner from Goldsmith, Texas 10 Hobbs, N.M.

B. Montoya from Laborer to Pipeliner 6-12 Goldsmith, Texas

E.D. Smith from Laborer to Pipeliner 6-12 Ham lin, Texas

C. B. Treadwell from Tank Farm Gauger to Del. Cauger (Prod.) from McCamey, Texas to El Paso

GCD

G.M. Esles from Mech. B 10 Mech. A Gibson, La.

K. F. Hambrick from Laborer to Pipeliner (6) Goodrich, Texas

G.N. Lyall from Mtr. Meas. B to Mil. Meas. Tech . Gibson, La.

T. Magana from Pipeliner (12) to Utility Pipeliner Pasadena, Texas

S.A. Ruslad from Uti!. Pipeliner to Del. Gauger Pasadena , Texas

D.R. Solo from Pipeliner (6) to Pipeliner {12) Austin, Texas

). W. Slephenson from Pipeliner (12) to Lead Pipeliner Pasadena, Texas

R.E. While from Mech. B 10 Mech. A Gibs9-n, La.

MCD

L. P. Freeman from Electrician B to Electrician A Cushing, Okla.

G. W. Yandell &omLaborer 10 Pipeliner (6) Healdlon, Okla .

Retirements

CD

P.E. Wit! Pipeliner-Welder 1st Odessa , Texas Dec. 1

I SPLC Welcomes

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R.F.Black Sr. Emp . ReI. Anal. Employee Relations

CD

B.A. Hill Clerk I Midland, Te,;x:as

P. A. Lankford Clerk Midland, Texas

GCD

C. M. Leonard Secretary I Norco, La.

MCD

S. L. Kesinger Operator 2nd Class Wood River, Ill.

WCD

F.). Rangel Engineer Anaheim , Calif.

Service Anniversaries

W.H.Nixon CD-Brownfield, Texas 35 years Dec. 19

A.P. Arnrld GCD-Pasadena, Texas 25 years Dec. 12

O.W.Gray HO-Houston, Texas 25 years Dec. 15

W.G. Vandegrift HO- Hous ton, Texas 15 yeaTS Dec. 1

P. D. Waggener MCD-Indianapolis , Ind. 15 years Dec. 6

D. L. Berryhill CD-McCamey, Texas 10 years Dec. 21

R.E. Bragg CD-Goldsmith, Texas 10 years Dec. 2

C. L. Gehlerl MCD-Roxana, Ill. 10 years Dec. 21

A.P. Arnold CCD- Pasadena 25 years

D.W.Gray HO- Houston 25 years

g&,n 11

Editor: . Tony Can ina Art Director: ... .... Don Iyeki Production: .. ..... Cynthia Bailey Photo Coordinator: .. Maya Dixon

FIELD REPORTERS

Central Division Midland. . ..... Pat Hopson Rocky Mountain. . Ann McColley

GuifCoast Division New Orleans . .

Head Office

.. Gail Melton

General Engineering .. Art LaRochelle

Mid-Continent Division Indianapolis. . . Laurie Burch Eastern District . . . .. Shirley Abbott Central Michigan ... Sue Sparks Cushing. . . ... Carolyn Maynard Wood River . Ramona Martin

West Coast Division Los Angeles Coalinga ..

. Dine Moore ... Doretta Deshields

. .. Connie Sanford Long Beach

JI'l BEARD fiT I! BOX bbl! CA NNON ROA D GO NZ ALE~,

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3100 07 8')3122B

LA 70737

Bulk Rate U. S. Postage

PAID Houston, Texas Permit No. 2264

Published for employees, pensioners, families and friends of Shell Pipe Line Corp. All correspondence should be addressed to Go Devil, 1517 One Shell Plaza, P.O. Box 2463, Houston, Texas 77001, or to one of the field reporters listed above.

A Glance Backward. It is 1947. Senior Chemist Lyle Sheppard plies his trade in a laboratory where pipe­line corrosion - and how to prevent it - is foremost on the agenda. According to the old Go Devil in which this picture first appeared , Shep­pard is applying the latest "scientific methods ... in studying how to beat the rav­ages of the greatest economic enemy of pipelines." The microscope, the story con­tinues , will show "the slightest amount of corrosion damage in laboratory tests and provide clues to effective inhibitors." Another article dealing with efforts to thwart corrosion is featured in this issue. See page 2.

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