Re: Earl on 1744 at La Veta

Thanks to 1744 I have arthritis in my shoulders from absorbing to shock of its rough ride. It was either let my shoulder take the punishment or let my back absorb it. In which case, I I would be in a wheel chair now...

At 25 you hung on for dear life. I didn't hunt, it banged up and (mostly) down. You felt every joint in the track. It was just starting smooth out a bit at 30. At 33 it was a bit more tolerable, so that was the magic speed to run. It rode OK when it was on its hands and knees at 12 MPH.

1744 took a 4 car train of light weight commuter cars and that UP RPO car (about 240 tons)up the hill at about 12 mph. 63" drivers, about 34,000 lbs of tractive effort.
18 would take 4 heavy weight coaches (about 300 tons) up the hill at a bit over 14 mph. 55" drivers, about 41,000 lbs. of tractive effort. She did pull 5 cars (about 350 tons) once. It took a while to get there - but she pulled it quite well, just a bit slower.