Re: 55 years ago..........

Earl:
Spent hours talking to a retired engineer who worked on Rotary ON and OO on the Crested Butte branch. He worked as fireman, engineer, and pilot on both as well as running and firing the engines pushing the rotary. He said they got more $$$ when working on the rotary and that was the only good thing about it. He said the snow would come in through openings all over the thing and they would stick rags in every place they could to keep it out. He said the things shook like an earth quake.
When the Floresta branch was still running, the rotary would open the branch in the spring and it would sometimes take more than a week to go 11 miles. ON and OO did not have bunk trains like OM and OY, so they would back into Crested Butte for the night in a hotel. He said he didn't mind that too much until he got married and then he didn't like to be away from home. One year, they didn't finish opening Floresta until June 20. So far, that is the latest rotary run I have discovered.
He ran either 487 or 489 (couldn't remember which) pushing OO on its last run to Crested Butte in 52.