Posted by Dean on September 27, 2016 at 23:40:03 from (68.50.160.151):
In Reply to: Remembering sounds posted by Roger Tomfohrde on September 27, 2016 at 15:23:33:
I'm just old enough to remember the twilight of steam before the B & O dropped the fires west of Cincinnati in 1957.
Our small farm nearly bordered the railroad, the house about 1/4 mile from the tracks. About 1/4 mile to the east as the crow flies was a switch tower, water tower, coal bunker and Y for a helper engine that was stationed just across the creek. The helper engine did local switching and pushed the freight trains up the nearly 15 mile hill out of the Ohio River valley west to Milan, IN (home of the 1954 miracle Indians), where it would uncouple.
The double-headed freight trains would cruise slowly past and stop with the caboose about 1/2 mile beyond our house, just out of sight. I well remember lying in bed with the windows open on a hot summer's night listing to the helper engine effortlessly chuff past to couple to the caboose. Once coupled, the engineer in the helper engine would whistle, signaling that he was ready, followed a few seconds later by the much more faint reply signal from the head end locomotive. Occasionally, I would hear a relief valve open as all locomotives would have a full head of steam in preparation for the hard pull up the hill.
Steam engines produce maximum torque at stall, and usually slip when starting a heavy train. Consequently, starting a heavy consist from standstill was a bit of an art, requiring skilled hands on the throttle and sander.
Usually, after one or two barks from the exhaust, the drivers would slip, the side arms flailing wildly, before the engineer could pull back on the throttle and pour on the sand. If conditions were right, it sometimes sounded as if the locomotive was just outside my window. I was fascinated.
Usually, upon the second attempt, there was enough slack in the consist that the drivers would hold and the engines could accelerate the train. I would listen mesmerized as the sound from the exhaust grew both faster and more faint as the train accelerated away to the hill, starting about 3 or 4 miles away and becoming serious in about 7 or 8 miles. Conditions needed to be nearly perfect for me to hear the heavy freight engines at the head end a mile or more away.
If still awake 40 or 50 minutes later, I would hear the helper engine glide past backward, the side arms and valve gear clanking in effortless cadence, as it returned to its post to await the next freight, perhaps taking on water in the interim.
Would that I had had a tape recorder and the skill to use it at the time.
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