Burke !! Someone with a track profile handy correct me if I'm wrong but stays
in mind that Burke was .87%, against eastward trains, not even a a good ol',
full fledged ONE PERCENT!
Leo brings back "fond" memories of that darned "hill".
In the mid-seventies we were introduced to the "98" syndrome. Seems that 98
was now handling all leftover 82 and 182 traffic out of the Cities, carrying
"shorts" and, generally, everything else that somebody thought should end up in
Cicero.
I knew somthin' was up due the fact that an RFE was waitin' for us at the Yard
Office when we showed up for 98 that morning.
Seems that after a few months of extraordinarily substandard performance and
numerous stalls and Engineers' complaints, a Company officer, I C Ethington,
hooked a business car on the rear end of one of these gems at St. Paul to see,
first hand, what all the "noise" was about. His trip to Savanna was, I'm sure,
uneventful. The "event" most noticeable to all who were interested in train
performance occurred less than 10 min. after our departure from Sav.
"Departure" is actually incorrect. I couldn't get the rear of the train out of
Yard Limits.
Well, Jimmy Palmer had been called for 82, about 15 min. behind us so, since he
couldn't go anywhere with us tyin' up the RR, he was selected as the most
logical cure for an illogical situation. With Ivan's business car sittin'
dead on the main Jim cut his engine off and came up behind us to "assist". In
the usual, informal practices of the day, Jim locked horns with the business
car and started shovin'. As soon as I felt a nudge I started pullin' and away
we went. Now, with 7 units dedicated to serving the "wonder train", we made a
very impressive attack on "the hill".
As my engine passed beneath the overhead bridge that was midway between siding
switches and a sign that the hill was "made", I asked Jim to pull the pin and
"give me my train back" which is to say, ease off the power until all the slack
had been stretched outta my train and we could be on our way. As my train
started down the east side of Burke, toward Dagett, I hadn't felt the slack run
out and inquired of Jim, "ya gonna let go of me or what?". Jim responded that
they couldn't pull the pin on his engine but the "Boss" was commin' outta his
car and was gonna pull the chain, attached to the pin, on the business car.
Soon we just so many ton-miles-per-freight-train-hour again. All went well
'till, after leavin' Milledgeville where, as Leo mentioned, lies Hazelhurst,
another hill. We managed to grunt over Hazelhurst and make a gallant run
through Polo to conquer Stratford hill. This train had NO problems with
downhill I might add. As we climbed up Stratford hill the speed really took a
dive. We were instructed by the "Boss" to do EVERYTHING the engine could do to
get over the top which, I concluded, put a temporary moratorium on the ol'
"Short Time" ratings on the motors. Well, "all" the engine could do simply
wasn't good enough, we stalled again. Jimmy to the rescue, again. Have you
ever smelled "toasted" Mylar??
The remainder of the trip was every bit as lackluster as the part just
described but, for about a month or so, we had considerably better power on
sweet 98. Soon, same-ol', same-ol'.
Karl
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBQ/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CBQ/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:CBQ-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:CBQ-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
CBQ-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
|