The picture of running steam from the 487 to the 488 reminded me of a conversation I had with Woody Ralston, one-time Midland Terminal hostler. I asked him if they used a steam assist to help gete engines fired up.
``No,'' he said. ''We were a poor railroad.'' Woody took six hours to fire up an engine at the Colorado City roundhouse, starting with a wood fire. He would get pressure in about an hour.''