Locomotive Cab Rides
NW Mailing List
nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org
Fri Apr 6 17:19:47 EDT 2018
Jeff,
As I recall the cab ride on the EL-2b, it was very smooth, not just
because of the weight, but I suspect also because of the four trucks
under each unit. Another thing that impressed me was how high the cab
was above the ground compared with the diesel road-switcher cabs that I
was more familiar with.
Incidentally, I just realized that I omitted one cab ride from the list
that I sent out. That was in the cab of a Baldwin diesel on the Durham
and Southern from Durham to Apex, NC, and return.
Gordon Hamilton
On 4/5/2018 11:00 PM, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List wrote:
>
> Gordon. Great story!
> I've heard you mention several of these thru the years, but not most
> of them.
> Thanks for sharing! If it was anyone but you, I'd say it was
> bragging, but that's just not you.
> BTW, how did the EL2b ride? I'd guess pretty smooth. With 1M pounds on
> drivers!
>
> Thanks, and keep your reminisces coming.
>
> Jeff Sanders
>
>
> Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
> <https://overview.mail.yahoo.com/mobile/?.src=Android>
>
> On Thu, Apr 5, 2018 at 2:43 PM, NW Mailing List
> <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:
>
> Recently, I was reminiscing about some locomotive cab rides that I
> have enjoyed down through the years, and I realized that some of
> these cab rides were so unique that brief accounts of them likely
> would be of interest to Mailing List readers and warrant listing
> them here. Another reason was that this might stimulate others to
> post accounts of equally unique, or more unique, cab rides they
> have had. I would be disingenuous if I did not admit that I am
> bragging here about the uniqueness of some of the cab riding
> opportunities that I had.
>
> The following locomotive cab riding accounts are in no particular
> order:
>
> * N&W 2300, steam turbine electric, "Jawn Henry," from Shaffers
> Crossing Roundhouse, Roanoke, VA, to Boaz Siding where it
> pushed a train over Blue Ridge grade, but suffered a component
> failure (I forget what, but probably a feedwater pump) and had
> to limp back to the Roundhouse. But, hey, it counts as a cab
> ride in my book.
> * N&W streamlined K2 or K2a (I forget which) passenger
> locomotive, 22 miles from Meadowview, VA to Bristol, VA.
> Although it was not a long ride, it is probably more rare or
> unique than cab rides on N&W 611 in excursion (which I never
> experienced, unfortunately ).
> * Former VGN EL-2b electric locomotive, 133 miles on empty
> hopper train from Roanoke to Elmore, WV.
> * Former VGN FM "Assistant Trainmaster" H-16-44 diesel
> locomotive on time freight Elmore to Roanoke.
> * N&W GP-9 "Red Bird" diesel passenger locomotive on Powhatan
> Arrow, 128 miles from Roanoke to Crewe, VA.
> * SOU RY F3a diesel locomotive on No. 18, the Birmingham Special
> being detoured over N&W Shenandoah Division account SOU's Tye
> River bridge destroyed by Hurricane Camille. The F3a
> locomotive cab was shared with the N&W engineer and fireman, a
> SOU Road Foreman of Engines, Bruce Sterzing (later president
> of D&H RY) and John Rehor (who wrote the monumental book, /The
> Nickel Plate Story/). About 146 miles out of Roanoke (near
> Stanley, VA), No. 18's progress was blocked by a derailed
> "double-barrel" (crew-speak for a train with a pusher) coal
> train ahead. The locomotives were coupled on the other end of
> No. 18 to go back to Waynesboro, VA, to get on the C&O Ry, but
> Bruce and I got off in Shenandoah and rode a caboose back to
> Roanoke.
> * L&N M1 Berkshire steam locomotive about 183 miles from Corbin,
> KY to DeCoursey Yard, KY, near Cincinnati (in addition to
> signing a release, I had to buy a coach ticket from Corbin to
> Latonia, KY).
> * B&O RR Budd RDC at about 80 mph somewhere north of Washington,
> DC. (crew saw me looking through the cab door window into the
> cab and motioned for me to open the door and come into the cab).
> * BC Rail Budd RDC through the Tumbler Ridge tunnel on a fan
> trip, including experiencing what the crew called "the car
> wash," which was a curtain of water pouring through a
> transverse crack in the tunnel roof.
> * Maryland and Pennsylvania RR (known as the Ma and Pa)
> gasoline-electric passenger car for the first half of the trip
> from York, PA to Baltimore, MD, or about 20 miles.
> * Flemingsburg and Northern RR Mogul steam locomotive on
> Kentucky fan trip, including not only a cab ride but also a
> ride on the top of the tender! (see attached photos,
> particularly the one of the fan hanging out to record the
> locomotive driving wheels in motion. Liability? Apparently,
> that wasn't of concern in the early 1950's!).
>
> In the following locomotive cab riding accounts I was operating
> the locomotive controls--probably the best type of locomotive cab
> riding:
>
> * N&W Classes Y, Z, M, S1, K1 steam locomotives around Durham
> Shop during my three summers there as a laborer. The hostlers
> would often trade places with me by throwing track switches
> for me while I operated the various steam locomotives from one
> track and servicing spot to another track and servicing spot.
> * N&W Class K1 at Durham. One day I was uprated to hostler
> helper, and I actually ran a K1 Mountain-type passenger
> locomotive about 1-1/2 miles to the wye at Duke Yard, around
> the wye and back to the shop while the hostler fired the
> locomotive and threw the track switches for me.
> * A variety of N&W and D&H diesel locomotives when I was
> temporarily assigned as engineer on the N&W between Bellevue,
> OH, and Buffalo, NY, a 248-mile run on what was basically a 60
> mph railroad (except for 1-1/2 mile through Erie, PA, where
> the main line ran down the middle of 19th Street like a
> streetcar line). Total miles run during this stint was almost
> 11,000 miles. On one occasion I ran a train across an
> international border! This was from Fort Erie, Ontario,
> across the 3,651-foot long International Bridge over the
> Niagara River and then over 9.6 miles of Conrail tracks to the
> N&W's Bison Yard in Buffalo.
> * Swiss electric train on a fan trip where each person had a
> chance to operate the metre-gauge passenger train. From a
> standing start I took the occupied passenger train up to track
> speed and shortly afterward applied the brakes to bring the
> train to a smooth stop. At a little ceremony that evening we
> were surprised when each of us received an engraved Swiss
> railroad pocket watch to commemorate the event (see attached
> image).
>
> Gordon Hamilton
>
> Moderator:
> http://www.nwhs.org/mailinglist/2018/20180405.F&N%20RR%20-%201004.jpg
> http://www.nwhs.org/mailinglist/2018/20180405.F&N%20RR%20-%202003.jpg
> http://www.nwhs.org/mailinglist/2018/20180405.SwissWatch001.jpg
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