Ha!, someone reading the fine print! Yes, you are right, it was #348 out of
Galesburg about 7:30ish. As I remember, there was a westbound morning
hotshot so for all practical purposes, the dispatcher was single tracking it
eastbound. Factor in for weeks due to the extreme cold, everything was
freezing up and breaking down. Nobody was taking anything for granted. In
extreme cold, the power switches were prone to give trouble when a poor
dispatcher could least afford it.
It was a very gray dawn as we DID beat Amtrak out of Galesburg. I believe
we made it back to our train and was pumping the air off as Amtrak went by.
A small victory but we did salvage something. I remember the dispatcher
only by the fact that for a few months, we were hearing his voice pretty
regular. Don't know who he was but he sounded as if he was struggling every
trick........just the weather beating everyone down.
As for the motors, I just don't remember...........at that point the focus
was on two of anything so long as they worked and kept the cab warm. These
were trips that everyone on the crew just held their breath. Hope you
enjoyed COS. I'm done with the next although I still not finished. Its
called, "Galesburg, The Capital of the Burlington" History, Legend and
Lore..............This is fairly more serious and as such much more
demanding.
Hope all of this helps, William A. Franckey
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Lewis" <CBQJohn@m...>
To: <brhslist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Monday, December 02, 2002 10:59 AM
Subject: [BRHSlist] Cathedral of Steel Question
> Mr. Franckey,
>
> I just recently finished reading your book (an autographed copy purchased
at
> RR Days by a good friend of mine) and I have a strange question.
>
> At one point in the book, you related a story about how you were called to
> take an eastbound out of Galesburg with two well-worn SD7s (or were they
> SD9s?). The clock was ticking as you had an eastbound Amtrak nipping at
> your heels ... I assume it was the Illinois Zephyr? One of the motors
gave
> you trouble and you high tailed it back to the roundhouse were things were
> set straight in short order.
>
> My question is did you make it out of town in time ahead of Amtrak?
>
> Regards from San Diego,
>
> John Lewis
>
>
>
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