Re: Sand question

When I was a hostler in Durango, the sandhouse was in full use. I spent a lot of time spotting locomotives and filling sand domes. It was interesting to see how much each engineer used, based on a regular tonnage train. Most engineers used the sand sparingly and when needed, not needing much sand at all at the end of a trip. On a rainy day, more was always used. The following day, same train, different engineer who would turn on the sanders in Durango and turn them off only occasionally until arrival at Silverton. The dome would be almost empty upon return to Durango.

The roadmaster never liked the sand being operated over switches unnecessarily.........