During my summers 1957-1959 with the Iowa Highway Dept. as a materials
analyst, one of my test sites was at Camanche Limestone Quarry just west
of Farmington, Iowa on the Veile - Bloomfield branch. Most loads went
out in the GS composite hoppers, especially loads of rip-rap that were
interchanged at Farmington with the RI. Those that went on to Ft.
Madison and East often required doubling the hill up to Dry Ridge a few
miles East of Farmington. This was especially true with the SW or NW
switchers, and as I recall even with the occasional GP-7 that was
assigned. A particularly memorable cab ride was with the first cut one
night in a raging thunderstorm. The way those SW's hunted from side to
side on the less than perfect track was scary enough without all the
lightning and thunder. The Valley Limestone and Gravel Co. mine on the
RI at Douds, Iowa also shipped a lot of rock in the Rock's GS hoppers.
Jack Ferris