Weed Train

Sun Jan 24 16:12:06 EST 2021

Thanks for the memories Gordon. Talking about pots and pans to the floor . . . I was on the 101 with my Dad one time. We had all gone to bed. A shifter crew was moving us at Lambert’s Point and hit the car so hard that it knocked the heavy burners off the top of the gas stove onto the kitchen floor. They told me about it in the morning. I slept right through it.      John Garner

From: NW Mailing List [mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org] 
Sent: Friday, January 22, 2021 12:49 PM
To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Subject: Re: Weed Train

John,

Our work day was variable as determined by such things as the length of the line to be sprayed, the time lost clearing up for revenue trains, the time lost waiting out a heavy rain, and the hours of service limit for the train crew.

The spray car rode well enough, particularly at the targeted spraying speed of 13 mph, but when we were not spraying and were moving near track speed, it was a different matter, although generally not too bad.  This also applied to our bunk/dining car. with one exception.  Most of the time we tied up in some terminal at the end of the day.  The exception occurred after we sprayed into Hagerstown.  That evening our train was attached to the rear of a time freight to get us back to Roanoke overnight for spraying out of there the following day.  I have been told that freight trains, even with Y6 engines would sometimes run upwards of 60 mph on the northern portion of the Shenandoah Division.  I don't know how fast we ran that night, but there was a lot of vibration from the obviously un-snubbed trucks on the bunk car, which would have been enough to have kept us awake that night by itself if its detrimental effect had not been superseded by the slack action on the rear of that presumably long freight train -- slack action that sent pots and pans in the dining section of the car clattering to the floor while we were trying to sleep.

Gordon Hamilton

On 1/20/2021 6:06 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:

How many hours a day were you on that rickety-looking car.  How was the suspension?   John Garner

From: NW Mailing List [mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org] 
Sent: Wednesday, January 20, 2021 3:47 PM
To: NW Mailing List  <mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
Subject: Re: Weed Train

The two months of 1954 that I was on the N&W's home-made weed spray train we sprayed everything east of Williamson and I understand a contractor sprayed everything west of Williamson.

Gordon Hamilton

On 1/20/2021 1:11 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:

I'll ask.  Does NS do that on its own, or have they contracted that out to someone like Corman? 

Frank Bongiovanni

On Wed, Jan 20, 2021 at 12:26 PM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org <mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> > wrote:

Be nice NS bring back some spraying

Larry Evans

From: NW-Mailing-List [mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org <mailto:nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> ] On Behalf Of NW Mailing List
Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2021 10:14 PM
To: nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org <mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> 
Subject: RE: Weed Train

Gordon, I would really enjoy reading your article!   Thx,   John Garner

From: NW Mailing List [mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, January 19, 2021 2:25 PM
To: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org <mailto:nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> >
Subject: Re: Weed Train

No, I was the short boom operator on the right side of this spray car in 1954.  Incidentally, I plan to use this image in an article that I hope to finish some day about my summer jobs on the N&W.

Gordon Hamilton

On 1/18/2021 9:57 PM, NW Mailing List wrote:

Gordon,

Says 1956. Are you on board?    John Garner

https://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-SLIDE-N-W-NORFOLK-WESTERN-526548-ROANOKE-VIRGINIA-KODACHROME-1956/393100048871?hash=item5b8696b9e7:g:f7QAAOSwfrxgBPPn

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