Karl,
One time they tried, yet again, to run a business car on #98 and run
them Northtown to Cicero. They started by dog catch between Northtown
and LaCrosse. Next was dog catch off the CCP. At that point management
had enough of #98. As soon as they stopped at Savanna there were taxi's
on their ride to take drive to Chicago on the highway.
Russ
----- Original Message -----
From: "Karl L Rethwisch" <qrailroadman@yahoo.com>
To: <CBQ@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, 19 June, 2009 11:44
Subject: [CBQ] Doubleheading and Shoving.
> 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
>
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
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/
|