Re: Coal shoveling in Durlin *PIC*

Stuart, that is what I find so fascinating about studying history, you begin to have an appreciation for people and the hard work they performed who came before us. Further, if we can
learn from the past then we can apply those lessons to today’s problems and avoid repeating some of the mistakes or at least be knowledgeable about alternatives that have been tried in the past.
You had to have a strong back and arms to move 60 tons of coal, that is for sure. Around the RGS coal docks at Vance Junction and Rico I have located the remains of several shovels which I can imagine standing there were used to move untold tons of fuel for hungry RGS engines...
The attached pic shows me back in the day when I shoveled my share of coal...I don’t recall the exact date but it was probably before the quake of ’89 as the Durlin depot was still a stone structure in those days. I am pictured discussing with the Durlin Branch superintendant D. Adams either:
A. my industrious efforts at completely emptying the coal dock in Durlin
B. when the next Durlin freight would arrive with company coal to replenish the dock
C. future promotion opportunities into train service considering my work ethic and shoveling ability or
D. all of the above.
Ah... the good old days...
Rod
P.S. Don’t tell the Durlin Branch management but if truth be told there was a strong wind blowing that day and as I flung the coal toward the dock most of it disappeared in the adjacent crevice in the terrain and mostly likely ended up in China!
Durlin, CO circa 1980, D. Adams photo