Re: My favorite locomotive...and ng too!

A few more things things I should have pointed out yesterday...
this job ran as an extra out of Guatemala City on Tu-Th-SA, the Zacapa based crews laid over at their home terminal on Sunday and the train ran back to Guatemala City on Mo-We-Fr.
Train made all stops and I mean all. I've seen them unload a car full of adobe tiles, bedsprings and even a small dozer which was driven right off of the flatcar directly behind the locomotive.
When running back to G.C., the limit was 245 tons once you were beyond Rancho as there were 3 sustained grades of 3.3% to get over.
Krupp 174 held down this job a lot in her last years, but Baldwin sisters 178 and 180 were substituted when needed. Back in the late 60's, this job often ran with two engines, frequently Krupps.
Distance from G.C. to Zacapa was about 97 miles. With stops for passengers, water, etc., this made for a long day, but not for fans.
Profile from Rancho to Zacapa was reasonably flat with some sags allowing for longer trains and faster running. Al Shelton & I both agree that we were up to 30 when we rode here in '73 in engine 180.
Zacapa had a steel 6 stall roundhouse and as late as '71, had a boilerhouse to provide stationary steam. By early '73, a locomotive would be spotted by the house and piped up for this duty.
I've seen the yard goat serve as a helper getting a train out of town, shoving on the rear with no air made up. Once past the big steel bridge and on level track, the pin was pulled and the Consolidation returned back to the patio (yard) and her days work.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2010 12:31PM by Tom Moungovan.