The only place I've heard it referenced was for trains across the
Missouri rive Bridge at Sioux City. Burlington's trains were using
the ageing Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha's Missouri River
bridge at Sioux City, Iowa, the connecting link between the Q and the
Great Northern. The pin-connected trusses of the bridge, built in
1888, required weight restrictions, limiting movements over it to
smaller locomotives and cars of 70-tons capacity or less. Longer
trains had to be broken into sections for individual movement across
the structure. Steam-powered "Pingers," powered by R4 and R5 Prairie
locomotives running back and forth across the river, were the rule
until the SD7's delivery in 1951. The Burlington's new SD7's,
numbers 400-411, were ordered specifically for use on the O'Neil
branch from Omaha to Sioux City. Read more about it in the upcoming
Burlington Bulletin on the Q's SD7's and SD9's. (Shamelsss plug.)
Dave
Lotz
--- In BRHSlist@y..., jonathanharris@e... wrote:
> Does anyone know the origin of the term "pinger," applied to CB&Q
transfer runs?
>
> Jonathan
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