Re: The economics of valve gear

I had the pleasure of working on the GCRY 29 from when she first entered service in the early days of the Grand Canyon Railway. You are correct, she was (is) a puller. We used to run many double headers with No 18 in those days, with as many as 13 cars, max for both locomotives on the ruling grade.

I recall that on one trip, I was firing the 29 (road engine) for Robert Crossman while the 18 was on the point with the late Chris Pease as the engineer. We were heading back to Williams and for some reason, the water pump on 18 was acting up. We stopped at Red Lake so the 18 could catch up on water and steam before we started over the small hill between Red Lake and Williams. Chris radioed back to Robert, indicating that they had plenty of water, but were still a little low on steam. Chris asked if the 29 could get the train (13 cars) out of Red Lake without any help from 18 until they could catch up on steam. Robert looked at me and I indicated I was ready. He replied to Chris that we would give it a try. Once we got the “highball” from the conductor, Robert dropper her down into the corner, dropped a little sand, and that locomotive barked out of there without a slip or missing a beat! We were up to speed in no time and both Chris and Robert, along with the rest of us were very impressed. What a machine!

I don’t recall that we ever had any issues with the Baker gear. Like the 18, she was a very dependable locomotive.

Another time, I was operating the 29 when it slipped a driver tire as we were returning to Williams from the Grand Canyon…..but that is another story.

Mike Ramsey

James Belmont Photo