Below is a link to an archived series of crappy photos I shot on August 27, 2006. I happened to stop at the I-70 Overlook on a day when #9 was unable to get up the hill.
At the time, Shane explained that:
The nut, bolt and cotter pin that connect the reverse lever to the running gear at the front end of #9 came off just as we were coming around High Fill curve. We stopped just above the curve, and the engineer and my conductor walked back to look for the parts. They found the bolt, but the nut and pin had disappeared, perhaps before we had approached High Fill. They called the shop in Silver Plume, and one of our mechanics brought down another nut and pin. They put these back on and we were ready to go in 15 minutes. However,
trying to start up just above High Fill, the 9 didn't want to go, and was probably stuck in her "dead spot" of the valves, which didn't help. The
engineer tried several times to let her roll back and then start forward, but to no avail. So we backed down to the Ladder Track and started back up the hill. Made it back to Silver Plume late, but with no more problems.
--
Chris Webster
[www.speakeasy.org]