[Attachment(s) from
LZadnichek@aol.com included below]
August 18, 2016
Group - A thread some time ago discussed steam locomotives being able to
run through high water over flooded tracks verses diesel locomotives that
could not because their traction motors would short out. I just came
across the inserted/attached image that graphically shows such an occasion
many years ago:
The unidentified image shows CB&Q Class P-5 No. 2569 "tip toeing"
over flooded tracks with a local passenger train. I first shared this image
with Hol Wagner who commented that 2569 had been a Lines East
locomotive and that the scene really could be anywhere in Iowa
or Missouri. The 2569 was assigned to the Ottumwa Division in the 1920s
and the Hannibal Division in the 1930s. Plus, I have another undated image of
2569 taken in Kansas City. From the forward bell position behind its
stack, 2569 also had at some earlier time been used in Chicago Suburban
Service.
If you enlarge the attached image, 2569 is pushing a wave in front
and water is splashing down from the main rod. The man riding the pilot
as a lookout could be either the head end brakeman or a member of
the section gang responsible for patrolling the flooded right-of-way. With the
bare trees, flat gray sky and what appears to be a heavy coat on the man
riding the pilot, the image was likely taken in late winter or early spring.
No. 2569 must've been a "good" locomotive as it enjoyed a long service life on
the Q and wasn't retired until October 1953, some 48 years after being
built by Baldwin in 1905.
This is only one of a handful of images I've ever seen of a Q steam
locomotive powering a train over flooded tracks. Does any Group member have
another such image to share? Best Regards - Louis
Louis Zadnichek II
Fairhope, AL