Earl Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> At 600am, Dec. 31, 2018 I tied up for the last
> time, ending 41 years, 5 months and 3 days of
> Railroad Employment. In those 41 years, all but 3
> involved running steam somewhere.
>
> As there would be no brass bands to welcome me
> home at the wee hours of New Year's Eve in Hayden
> AZ, I took my camera along to document the event.
>
> This what my railroad life looked like for the
> last 15 months of employment. Staring out into
> the dark as I wheeled the Copper Basin Ry's OT-1
> Ore Train between Ray Mine and the dump hopper at
> Hayden, AZ
> [attachment 52166 IMG_1938resize.JPG]
>
> OT1-97 (97th ore train of the month) waits for its
> 1200am departure from Ray Mine with 40 loads, 4200
> tons of copper ore. Power is GP-40's 301 and 303,
> followed by GP-39 504. We were scheduled to make
> 2 round-trips a night. This was the first. My
> intentions were to take pics of the last one only,
> but just in case, I though I'd better shoot this
> one too, just in case our second trip got
> cancelled, which was a common event. As ASARCO is
> very paranoid of cameras, setting up a tripod in
> front of the mine office at 1145pm would probably
> attract more attention than I wanted, This shot
> was taken hand held and braced against a power
> pole. I cranked the ISO on my camera to 6400 and
> tried my luck.
> [attachment 52167 IMG_1945resize.JPG]
>
> It was a good this I shot the above. The crusher
> plant in Hayden was down, and could only take
> about 2/3 of our train, so we sat and waited, and
> slept, for about 3 hours while the hopper emptied.
> This was a pretty common event, especially at
> night. I spent many hours of my employ at the
> CBRY taking in this scene:
> [attachment 52168 IMG_1950resize.JPG]
>
> Finally at 500am, the hopper was emptied enough to
> take the remaining 14 cars. We dumped them, the
> drifted down the hill to Hayden Junction Yard and
> tied up for the night. Here the power has been
> cut off from the train to clear the crossing, my
> conductor is tying the hand brakes on the train
> down. I've shut down and set the hand brakes on
> the engines. I shot these two before I killed the
> circuit breakers on the 504's headlights for the
> last time. I then grabbed my grip, went to the
> office, turned in my paperwork, my rule book and
> my switch key. The End...
> [attachment 52169 IMG_1956resize.JPG]
> [attachment 52170 IMG_1957resizea.JPG]
>
> As always the my timebook tells the story:
>
> Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018
> in 900pm
>
> OT1 - conductor Jeff Cross
>
> engs 504, 301, 303
>
> 40 cars
>
> Crew change at Hayden Hopper 915
>
> finish dumping train #96
>
> Dp Hayden Hopper 925
>
> Ar Hayden Junction 927
>
> air test
>
> Dp Hayden Jct 950
>
> Ray Junction 1012
>
> Ar Ray Mine 1022
>
> Begin loading train #97 1045
>
> Finish loading #97, air test 1120pm
>
> Dp Ray Mine w/40 loads. 0 empties, 4200 tons
> 1200am
>
> Ray Junction 1222
>
> Hayden Junction 1259
>
> Hayden Hopper 109
>
> In hole with 14 loads 210 - 459 am
>
> Resume dumping #97 459
>
> Depart Hayden Hopper 507
>
> Ar Hayden Junction 520
>
> Out 600am
>
> 9 hours
Congrats Earl, I know it must feel great to reach such a milestone!! I will always know you as one of the best NG Hoggers in the modern age. Your contributions to the C&TS and NG community at large are priceless. Maybe you'll have some time to run a few more K's and maybe a T class in the near future. Bravo and well done!
William
aka drgwk37
