The "noise" was typical for a large steam locomotive. When "hooked up", that is
running with the reverse gear real near center, and the engine was being worked
wide open, the sound at the stack was that of a continuous explosion. The
"choo-choo" sound merges into a noise that only enormous amounts of escaping
high pressure, superheated steam can make.
One eventful trip was on 5626, her last. A trip had been scheduled to use the
'32 to Lincoln and then swap for the '26 for the rest of the trip to Denver.
Out of Lincoln we had Archie Steele as the Engineer. He was retiring after this
trip so it seemed fitting that it be on the Q's finest. Leaving Lincoln was
quite a ride. I was standing behind Archie's seatbox and leaning back against
the watercooler. Arch was a man of small stature but he could tell an 838,000
lb. O5 where it was at. To "get 'er on the roof" (the position of the throttle)
he had to take two runs at it. He would first pull 'er out and up as far as he
could, about half way. Step two was when he would kneel on the seatbox and
SHOVE the thing all the way to the roof. Until a complete stop was planned this
is where the throttle would stay. We got a "flasher" (approach medium signal)
so everybody in the cab hollered FLASHER. Pretty soon we could see a "clear
crossover" (diverging clear) indication. Crossover speed was 40 MPH and we were
makin' 78 or 79 at the time. Also, a Road Foreman was riding and, as we got
closer to the crossover and Arch hadn't done much with the air, he got a bit
nervous. Pretty soon, at a spot known only to Archie, he set a little air. The
Road Foreman still looked anxious as we were really gettin' close to the
crossover and we were still doin' well over 40 MPH.
The air took hold, Arch dropped 'er down toward the corner a little, kicked the
air off and hit the points at 40 MPH with the throttle still wide open. The
Road Foreman breathed an audible sigh of relief.
The rest of Archie's part of the trip was uneventful and I never saw him again.
Returning from Denver on the '26 we had a bit of bad luck around Wray, CO.
Probably a valve cage came apart and some pretty good sized pieces came down
through one or more admission ports into the right cylinder. As the piston came
forward it encountered these objects and all hell broke loose. Some time later
I was told that the cylinder casting got cracked as the result of this incident.
Years later the '26 and '27 came into Eola cab to cab making their final "trip"
to the scrapper.
Both '32 and '26 rode very well at 60, 70, 80 and beyond. My only complaint
about either engine was that the watercooler leaked on the '26 and my jeans got
real wet.
Karl
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