Re: NNG - Chasing Choo-Choos in a Folks-Vagen . . .
| December 31, 2021 11:20AM |
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heatermason Wrote:
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> . . . As the passenger I was also often the
> starter; a quick push and popping the clutch
> usually got you going.
Been There, Done That — several times -
More than once solo. I would park my van for the night on a slight slope and in the morning get 'er rolling a bit, hop in, put 'er in gear, pop the clutch, and voila . . .
Though I was nowhere near as adventurous as Olaf, it's nevertheless a minor miracle that my bones aren't lost in the wilderness somewhere and I'm still around to tell about it. It's probably a good thing that I didn't get my used 1964 maroon & cream 6-volt VW camper 'til about three years after the last D&RGW freights over Cumbres, but within a month of buying her I was headed to Narrow Gauge Country with my foster brothers John and Tom Hall. After spending Labor Day weekend camping at Osier (see [ngdiscussion.net]) we headed to scenic Silverton, and then to To-Hell-You-Ride via Ophir. Most of Ophir Pass in either direction is pretty easy for a VW Beetle, at least during the summer and fall, but a camper van has a lot more weight with not even one small pony more horsepower. I had to cut in the boosters – John & Tom – to get up one really steep spot just east of the summit; if I had been alone I'd have had to back down several yards before turning around and then to go west the long way around via Red Mountain Pass, Ouray, Ridgway and Sawpit (the latter is a suburb of Placerville, IIRC).
Three years later, trying to keep up with AFT loco #4449 on her ferry move from Omaha to Ogden was definitely a challenge – especially on the remnants of the old and even older versions of U.S. 30 west of Green River, Wyoming. The danger that day was not snowdrifts but potholes big enough to blow a tire or bust an axle — which, since it's not too likely the U.P. would have picked up a hitch-hiker, could have meant walking a few miles just to get to Interstate 80, and many, many miles to the nearest town:
I was lucky, and the '64 camper served me well at chasing after choo-choos for more than another ten years.
- El Abuelo Histœrico, Greengo y Curmudgeoño de los Locomoturas Viejos y Verdes,
aka Der Grossväterlich DünkelOlivGrünDampfKesselMantelLiebHabender
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2022 05:23PM by Russo Loco.
-------------------------------------------------------
> . . . As the passenger I was also often the
> starter; a quick push and popping the clutch
> usually got you going.
Been There, Done That — several times -
More than once solo. I would park my van for the night on a slight slope and in the morning get 'er rolling a bit, hop in, put 'er in gear, pop the clutch, and voila . . .
Though I was nowhere near as adventurous as Olaf, it's nevertheless a minor miracle that my bones aren't lost in the wilderness somewhere and I'm still around to tell about it. It's probably a good thing that I didn't get my used 1964 maroon & cream 6-volt VW camper 'til about three years after the last D&RGW freights over Cumbres, but within a month of buying her I was headed to Narrow Gauge Country with my foster brothers John and Tom Hall. After spending Labor Day weekend camping at Osier (see [ngdiscussion.net]) we headed to scenic Silverton, and then to To-Hell-You-Ride via Ophir. Most of Ophir Pass in either direction is pretty easy for a VW Beetle, at least during the summer and fall, but a camper van has a lot more weight with not even one small pony more horsepower. I had to cut in the boosters – John & Tom – to get up one really steep spot just east of the summit; if I had been alone I'd have had to back down several yards before turning around and then to go west the long way around via Red Mountain Pass, Ouray, Ridgway and Sawpit (the latter is a suburb of Placerville, IIRC).
Three years later, trying to keep up with AFT loco #4449 on her ferry move from Omaha to Ogden was definitely a challenge – especially on the remnants of the old and even older versions of U.S. 30 west of Green River, Wyoming. The danger that day was not snowdrifts but potholes big enough to blow a tire or bust an axle — which, since it's not too likely the U.P. would have picked up a hitch-hiker, could have meant walking a few miles just to get to Interstate 80, and many, many miles to the nearest town:
I was lucky, and the '64 camper served me well at chasing after choo-choos for more than another ten years.
- El Abuelo Histœrico, Greengo y Curmudgeoño de los Locomoturas Viejos y Verdes,
aka Der Grossväterlich DünkelOlivGrünDampfKesselMantelLiebHabender
Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/03/2022 05:23PM by Russo Loco.
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488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
The NGDF was started by Don Richter and is currently operated in his memory by Nathan Holmes and others. Others who have contributed to the upkeep of this board are (in no particular order): Charles McCandless, Everett Lueck, Ted Wilton, Cole Adams, James Bane, John Moellmer, Jon Bentz, Linn Moedinger, lloyd lehrer, Rod Jensen, John Craft, Steven Forney, Herb Kelsey, Bill Ramaley, Russ Sperry (El Russo Loco), Josh McNeal, John West, Jim Armstrong, Bob Bergstrom, Greg Scholl, Blake Forbes Doug van Veelen and Mark Fuller.