> I was reading the Loudest Engine thread and
> I have to tell this story again.
> I was riding with the crew in Texas State
> Railroad #201 2-6-0 a few years ago. 201 is
> their
> oldest and smallest engine and this run was
> a full train of 6 cars which is the limit
> for this engine. If you know the area in
> east Texas, it is very hilly and theres one
> steep hill that always makes them work.
> So we start going up this grade at the
> normal speed of 25 mph and the stack starts
> talking.
> Further we go and the speed is down to 10
> mph and the exhaust is really getting loud.
> I dont know if the fact that its a saturated
> engine or the slide valves but this little
> engine really has a deep exhaust blast.
> Still going up and I see Roger, the engineer
> and a really nice guy, pull the throttle out
> the last bit. We are going 5 mph and the
> stack sounds like shotgun blasts BAM BAM
> BAM... The leaves on the overhanging tree
> limbs are basting off and are raining down
> on the tender. As I was holding onto the
> side handrail I could feel the rods pound.
> That was the most magnificent display of
> mechanical might that I have ever seen!
> When we crested the hill and it got calm my
> ears were ringing! HEHE
> the link is a sound clip I recorded of 201.
> 201 is boilerless and hopefully will be
> running again someday.
Alan: Wish I had been there that day to have heard #201! Your story makes me recall two of my own. First, a trip on the Laona & Northern when the Wisconsin railroad was still a common carrier and had a connection with the Soo Line at Laona Jct. The last run of the day, instead of just going out to "The Farm", continued on with any cars that needed to be interchanged with the Soo. That day there were two or three box cars PLUS the regular train witch consisted of some heavyweight passenger cars and some cabooses. I don't recall the total length of the train. But, what I DO recall is the lines 2-6-2 # 4 running up and down the hills and valleys. It was "I think I can....I think I can....I think I can" as the Vulcan Prairie went slower and slower up one hill and then "I thought I could....I thought I could....I thought I could" as it picked up momentum going down the other side. Quite a performance. And one which apparently no one ever caugt on tape!
The second thing you story reminded me of was a visit I made many years ago to the Smithsonian where I walked around Southern 4-6-2 #1401. They had a sound display that occurred every so often when the wig-wag next to the Pacific would start swinging and clanging and then the far away sound of a steamer could be heard as it approached the "station" and then, after a pause, could be heard leaving for distant horizons. It was quite an impressive display! I was pretty sure that it wasn't the 1401 on the tape but when I read somewhere what it engine it WAS, I was shocked! The recording was not of some worthwhile big steam stand-in, but of the Deaprtment of Health, Education & Welfare's little Porter 0-4-0T # 4 that "stood in" for the mighty green Pacific.
These two stories, and yours of TSR #201, point out that an engine doesn't have to be big to give a mighty display of what steam really is all about!
Les Beckman (Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum/North Judson, Indiana)
midlandblb@cs.com
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