North Fork Hollow Mine Run

[NW Mailing List]

OK, I sit corrected on cabeese on mine runs.  Putting it behind the loco
prevents those extra maneuvers I was worried about.  BUT, and there's
always a but, how many men made up a mine run crew?  Engineer, fireman and
probably a brakeman at the nucleus, anybody else?  Did the mining
operations supply workers to assist in the process?
Jim Cochran

On Fri, Dec 5, 2025 at 6:46 AM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:

> I've seen many pics of the caboose riding behind the engine on switching
> moves to keep crews together.
>
> Carl Barna
> Emmaus, PA
> ------------------------------
> *From:* NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list-bounces at nwhs.org> on behalf of
> NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> *Sent:* Thursday, December 4, 2025 4:22 PM
> *To:* NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> *Subject:* Re: North Fork Hollow Mine Run
>
> Thanks Jimmy, this helps some of us modelers or others who are just
> curious about history, who have never worked for the railroad.
>
> Your question about "where would the crew ride" without a caboose is
> helpful because I would not have thought of that.
> Some of Jim C's questions are interesting to me as generalities to
> understand the hows and whys of how things worked.
>
> Mike Rector
>
> On Thu, Dec 4, 2025 at 2:47 PM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
> wrote:
>
>
> On 12/4/2025 8:19 AM, NW Mailing List wrote:
> > However, Grant's information suggests that the run pulled past the
> > trailing points turnout and then backed the empties into the holding
> > track.  What was the motivation for this?  Hauling a caboose around
> > through all these gyrations would have seemingly meant additional
> > moves to drop it off and pick it back up, so I am assuming (and yes, I
> > know what assuming can do) that these runs were cabooseless.
>
> Jim,
> First, the trains were not cabooseless! Where would the crew ride?
> Second, these crews have been switching out these plants for years and
> they know how best to do it! Trust me, they are not going to do it the
> hard way! What we don't know is everything that is on their list that
> needs to be done AND what the physical situation of cars left over in
> the tracks may be. Not knowing any of this, it is inconceivable to guess
> just how a plant needs to be switched on any given day. Sure, there is a
> basic system of working each place, but, that can easily change
> depending on what other work needs to be done.
>
> Jimmy Lisle
>
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