Speaking about a shove, sometime around late summer 1956 or 57 my dad and I
were out in our backyard in York, NB watching CB&Q trains of course. A east
bound freight with a 5600 class 4-8-4 came into town about dinnertime. York
was a water stop for both east and west bound trains. Anyhow, the engineer
showing his skills bought the whole train on his tail and spotted it
perfectly under the spout. Normally they would have left the train west of
town and come in light to spot it easier and also to give them a running
start east which had a slight grade. At the same time the local was in town
with a brand new GP7 and they were tied up in the yard while the east bound
freight watered up. Topping off the tank the engineer of the 4-8-4 yanked
open the throttle and stormed out of town for about a mile when she went to
her knees with the way car right in front of us. (we were about two city
blocks east of the station in York) Normal operation would have had the
train back about a mile or so west of town and then come roaring through to
conquer the grade. Not this time. The engineer laid down on that 5600's
whistle and low and behold the "Jeep" shot out of the siding up to the way
car and shoved the freight out of town without even blinking an eye. I don't
know who was more surprised, me or dad. Of course the camera was in the
closet and probably didn't have film in anyway. As far as I know, that
incident was the only time helper service was rendered in York, Nebraska.
Noel (George) Crawford
From: CBQ@yahoogroups.com [mailto:CBQ@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Duncan
Cameron
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 12:25 PM
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [CBQ] Helpers.
If memory serves me correctly, I may have heard about a shove being given to
get a northbound freight out of the Keokuk yard. While the K-line follows
the relatively smooth river course, there was quite a drop where the Des
Moines rapids used to be.
Duncan Cameron
----- Original Message -----
From: Karl
To: CBQ@yahoogroups.com <mailto:CBQ%40yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2011 10:10 AM
Subject: [CBQ] Helpers.
While Savanna was never an "official" helper terminal helpers were, on
occasions, "helpful" !! Left with a loaded rail train with an F7A and B.
Startin' at the yd. office there wasn't a very great chance we'd make Burke
on our own. Since doublin' a rail train is a bit tricky we convinced the
Yardmaster to add one of his switch engines to our waycar so he could "get
rid of us". He did and he did.
On the 10th. Sub the "goal" was ta clear the C&NW X'ing. just east of Deer
Grove before "layin' down" on Walnut. A double into Mendota was a chance ta
make a little extra "mad money" on a trip that paid more miles than a trip
via the C&I anyway.
Sometimes, a westward trip around "the horn" had its "moments" too. Checking
the register at Denrock required a slowdown that caused some concern gittin'
outta the sag over the Rock River. This was occasioned by the fact that a
trip around the horn was usually the result of catchin' a dog outta Cicero
that was too big, too heavy or too UNDERpowered ta move "smartly" over the
C&I so the 10th. and 5th. Subs were used to avoid "clutterin" up the 3rd.
Sub.
Wedron Hill was a hoot on the Fox River. With a train way too heavy for 3
Geeps ta leave Wedron with, a backward run towards Dayton was in order. The
subsequent cacophony produced by the 3 Geeps, the continuous blast of the
Leslie Typhon's passin' by the Wedron Silica plant structures, the dust
clouds and the HOPE that no trucks were on the X'ing. was definitely worth
the price of admission !! I suppose the 1.5% "hill" was too short to create
a helper district at Wedron.
Rockford also had a hill that could cause problems and make some extra money
for the crews. South Ottawa was also a formidable opponent against westward
(south) trains such as #85.
The CB&Q was NOT a perfectly flat RR !!
Karl
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