Re: Doubleheaded turns?

John, I find nothing in any timetables saying you couldn't doublehead a freight train up Cumbres. I think the normal procedure was as much a time saving at Lobato as it was for putting the train into the siding at Cumbres. I've seen several pics of 470's helping on the rear of freight trains, when it would have been perfectly OK to doublehead the train.
According to timetables doubleheading was prohibited on Marshall. This is probably because Cumbres was a fairly straight shot up the mountain, while Marshall was a continual series of loops and spirals up the hill. Too much power on the head end could easily daisy-chain the whole mess.
Former Roadforeman Jim Pearce told me of his one and only trip up Marshall Pass when he was loaned out to Salida in 1954: They did a "Sargent Turn". The had two 480's (one on each end) and about 30 cars. They took the train to Sargent, turned and made two trips up Marshall with about 15 loads of coal on each trip. These cars had been left behind by a previous train. After getting the two cuts up there, one engine ran light for Salida and the other took the train home. It took about 16 hrs to do all that. Jim said he never shoveled as much coal as he did that day, but he got nearly 3 day's pay out of it.