Re: Memories of 1744

guymonmd Wrote:
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> Thanks for the photo essay Earl.
> My sister and I road behind 1744 on a Saturday in
> July of 2007.
> We went from Alamosa to La Vita and back.
> She slipped a bit pulling the train back up the
> mountain from La Vita.
> We had to wait on a siding at Forbes Park for a
> diesel powered charter to pass.
> When we got past Fort Garland, you opened her up
> and let her run.
> I thought we might have been doing 40 mph, but I'm
> not sure.

I never hit 40 with 1744, but I quite sure she would have done that. Our passenger speed limit from Alamosa to Sierra (the bottom of the hill on the west side) and from La Veta to a spot about 4 miles west of town at the bottom of the 3% was 30 mph. 1744 generally rode like a tank. I would save my back by leaning hard on the right arm rest and let my shoulder absorb the pounding. So today I have arthritis in my shoulders thanks to 1744 and later 18 - which rode only marginally better. At 25, 1744 was awful. She began to smooth out at 30. At 34 mph the ride was barely tolerable, so that was what we aimed for. We never had a speedometer on 1744 or 18 and relied on a GPS device placed in a little wire basket near the air gauges.

Besides, with a 30 mph track speed, getting caught at 10 mph over the limit wold have resulted in my engineer's card getting pulled... So, I never did that....at least when anyone was likely to be watching.... That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.