A few yrs back, speaking with a ret'd Q Agent (LaX Div)about B&B forces
servicing stations, the old wooden gons in MoW/Company service came up. I
commented about the little hatch doors on both sides at either end. (Note:
like most MoW equipment, the gons were painted safety orange with a lot of
variation due to wood weathering, sun fading, board replacement, etc - some of
you have seen my slides of same @ BRHS clinics, esp. detail of the home-made
"hatches"). He related these were used by section crews to shove bags of coal
thru at stations, MoW sheds, etc in latter yrs for locations that still burned
coal (and this gentleman nearly always worked stations on the 'main'). Makes
sense as no shoveling required. He said the sacks were similar to potato
sacks; his best (or should I say worst) memory was when they split open &
spilled coal. He recalled too that they were bagged at Q mines in Illinois -
John Mitchell may have info. A Car Dept Mgr @ Galesburg in the mid-70's told
me the same thing that the gons were modified at various car shops; a very few
still in BN service at the time. I believe too commercial coal yards at one
time sold bagged coal as well as bulk. And speaking of shoveling, a fraternity
brother told me of a summer job in early 70's on a Q line in southern Iowa
where he worked for a lumber/coal dealer. One day he was given the solo task
of unloading a rare gon of coal as a ramp was no longer available (very few
people still burning coal by then). He told me memories of that helped him
keep his nose in his textbooks so he would become a Pharmacist (he did) rather
than shovel coal for a living. Gerald
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