On Ebay I got a copy of the January 1952 issue of Trains & Travel. I got it because it had an article about the end of locomotive production at the Lima Loco Works in 1952. Great article, but it's in two parts, and they don't say when the second part will come out ("in an early issue").

Seems like there was a post about an online index for old issues of Trains. Anybody know where it is, or alternately, which issue has part two of the Lima article.

And, in the letters section there is a picture of a tunnel on the EBT with electric doors. The doors were shut between trains during the winter to keep ice off the tracks in the tunnel (actually, two tunnels were thus equipped). Are these doors still in place and operable?

(Excuse my ignorance of the EBT, but never been there.)

Railway Preservation News
hkading@rypn.org

> And, in the letters section there is a
> picture of a tunnel on the EBT with electric
> doors. The doors were shut between trains
> during the winter to keep ice off the tracks
> in the tunnel (actually, two tunnels were
> thus equipped). Are these doors still in
> place and operable?

There is still some derelict remains of the doors on at least one end of one tunnel. The framing supporting the doors collapsed many years/decades ago, but there are some very rusty gears, panels, etc.

The "automatic" (activated by pull-ring, as I recall) roll-up doors replaced earlier wooden doors when a door tender fell asleep on the job and a freight train smashed through the doors of one tunnel. The idea was to keep icy blasts through the tunnel from freezing the condensate and natural drippings and ice-coating the rails.

lner4472@bcpl.net

Of the four portals, three had doors on them with the south portal of Sideling Hill Tunnel being the one that did not.

The doors and support framing at the north portal of Sideling Hill and north portal of Wrays Hill have fallen over away from the portal but are generally intact, though far from operable. The north portal or Sideling Hill tunnel door mechanism was still up until the winter of 2000-2001 when it fell. The door at the south portal of Wrays Hill Tunnel fell off the framing likely between 10-20 years ago. It is in rough shape.

The doors were reportely all wood to start with but there are no photos of those doors. Since the late 30's at least, the roll up steel curtain doors have been in place and likely have been since 1919 or so when the portals were rebuilt. When the doors became motorized is unclear, but it was very likely before the automation. In 1948, in order to save labor costs on tunnel wathchmen, remote actuators were palced several hundred yards from each portal that would open the door (doors) on the tunnel. A ring hung from the actuator an the head end crew would pull the actuator before the tunnel to open the door(s) and the tail end crew would pull the actuator on the far side of the tunnel to close them. Converted traffic lights will all green lenses were mounted at each portal to indicate if the doors were up or not.

The wreck reffered to actually occured with the steel doors and the actualtors. The head end crew pulled the actuator after the tunnel (probably at Wrays Hill) instad of the tail end crew. The train had not cleared the second door and it came down on the train whereby the caboose coupula tore it off.

Due to accidents like that the actuators were out of service by 1952 for a return to watchmen.

> (Excuse my ignorance of the EBT, but never
> been there.)

Time to visit, I'd say. Come June 1 and 2 and tour the historic shops! See http://www.febt.org/Events/02celann.html
for details.

The East Broad Top Railroad Homepage

ebtrr@spikesys.com