Hi Joe,
I would have to politely disagree with you. The Denrock-Mendota line was a roller coaster. I'll get into specifics a bit further along. The line was built to standards of the day with minimal fill and cuts that went pretty much straight up from the edge of the R-O-W. If you're looking at a track alignment chart there are a few stretches that are fairly level. But there are cuts,fences,tress,etc even along those stretches. All of the Northern IL branches had these characteristics. Take a look at the top of Pg 87 in Olmsteds "Trail of the Zephyrs" for an atypical Q branch line cut. Then imagine the window blowing 20-40 MPH with a foot or more of fresh dry flaky snow on the ground.
The two winters of 77-78and 78-79 were record setters for snowfall,wind and below zero temps.(not wind chills,pure temps at -20 and worse).Wind chills were 50-60 below. Under those conditions the slightest ripple in the landscape gave the snow a place to pile up. I remember digging out the west switch at Mored in winds that made it hard to stay upright. The switch was the highest point around as parallel rte 30 was lower and so were the farm fields.
My recollection of that night on the branch was running in a literal snow tunnel almost every where but sure there spots where it was only a few feet deep.
So let's look at the alignment chart: Each town is on a hill or ridge. Between Denrock and Ptown things are pretty level until you come to the 0.64 grade which means a cut. Then theres a dip west of town and then a rise before Tampico. The NW xing is in hole . Then there's the 0.755 grade into Walnut.then it's downhill to Walnut creek,then uphill 0.86 to Ohio. Trains eastbound would routinely double these two hills. The Ohio depot is the peak of the hill,then downgrade at 0.9. Then just west of Van Orin there's grades of 0.89 and 0.93. This also the "pump handle"( a set of curves that viewed from above look like the proverbial barnyard pump handle). then it's uphill into La Moille at 0.76 then downhill at 0.89. The there a small level piece just west of Wendell and then a .87 downgrade into Wendell. Then uphill at 0.82 followed by a downhill stretch of 0.89 ,finally leveling off into the curves west of Mendota.
By the way even flat level Eola yard was buried. The CAT Montgomery plant actually sent a fleet of end loaders and operators to help the RR out so the plant could have cars supplied.
Hope I didn't overdo the details.
Leo
Hi Leo,
Any recollection of where the Mendota-Denrock branch would get plugged up with snow? It's basically flat from one end to the other... no where for snow to build up.
Joe
>Louis,
>
>The Mendota picture brought back memories from 1979 of using a Jordan spreader on the
>Mendota-Denrock branch for 12 hours. The snow was higher than the loco Windows. We relieved a
>Crew that had plowed for 12 hours,then us for 12 and then another crew relieved us !
>Ass't Supt Joe Arrington was in the operators"house" the entire time !
>
>Also that year, I rode Amtrak number 5 to Omaha with two SD45s running ahead of us as a plow
>Extra.
>
>Many other "wonderful" memories of the 78-79 and 79-80 winters.
>
>Karl R. has some great true stories of trying to clear the Rockfalls branch. Some of his
>Pictures are at rrpicturesarchive.com(I think that's the correct link)
>
>Leo