Re: A Railroad Saga... (add to it)...

Billy eased the Hog out on the main headed north, and spotted her with the tender under the tank spout. Jojo climbed up, opened the manhole and pulled the tank spout down and jerked the water valve rope.
Only took a few minutes to top the water up, and he let go of the valve rope and swung the spout up, cussing the splashing he got from the icy water drizzling all over his overalls. Slammed the manhole cover shut and climbed back down into the cab. Lake had re-boarded also so they were ready to head for the coal tipple at the Yankee-boy Mine. Even though the mine wasn't shipping, there ought to be several tons of coal still in the tipple where they could dump some of it right into the tender without much trouble. They'd need all they could get this day. Billy hoped the hind end crew on 29 would have a coffee pot going when they found them. He knew their rear brakie would be standing out there on the rails with his flag, half frozen and waiting to be called in. The man was bound to be miserable....