This is a continuation of the discussion on Selective Enforcement farther on down on the list.
My paternal grandfather was a passenger hogger on the Pennsy for 52 years. For 26 of those years he was on the Chicago-Louisville Kentuckian, running from Logansport, IN to Lousiville. He was known as as a fast runner, and would periodically get into hot water with the brass collars who go bounced around too much in a business car on the end of the train.
On this particular occasion, it was during the Chicago World's Fair (1939?) and the Kentuckian was regularly running maybe 15-20 heavyweights with one K-4. On this run, the road Super of Engines elected to ride the cab in response to somebody's recent bitching about excessive speed. They left Indianapolis 45 minutes late, and as they cleared the yard, my grandfather asked the super,
"Do you want me to play it safe or get into Louisville on time?"
"Get into Louisville on time, Bill", was the reply.
So they took off. If you know your geography, you know that southern Indiana is quite hilly, so there are many curves and grades to contend with on the railroad. At one point there is a sweeping S curve, first to the right and then to the left. As they sailed into the first part of the curve, the Super went to the gangway and shouted at my grandfather,
"Bill, she ain't going to make it !!"
My grandfather told him to just hang on. As they headed into the left hand part of the curve, my grandfather said he saw daylight between the drivers and the rail. It was that close.
They had to wait three minutes outside Louisville to get clearance to cross the bridge. That was the last time he had any complaints about fast running, and he retired in 1942.
Another story he told me was one time they were supposed to slow down to 30 to toss off mail sacks. They roared through at 70, the mail clerk tossed out the sacks and promptly wrapped themselves around a switch stand. It snowed letters for a week
Oh for the good old days of steam.
CJ
