Re: Hear the man who piloted the last rotary through Alpine Tunnel

Posted by South Park on Sep 02, 2020; 4:04am
URL: http://c-sng-discussion-forum.254.s1.nabble.com/Hear-the-man-who-piloted-the-last-rotary-through-Alpine-Tunnel-tp15898p15928.html

Too many years have passed for me to remember where I heard/read
this story, but it has been a motivational inspiration for me since I was
a teen.  The basic story was a train was caught on the west side, when
a big storm closed the tunnel for the season, trapping a number of the
railroad's largest locomotives.  Some crew went over to the D&RG depot
to request permission to take their train/s over Marshall and up the Arkansas
to Buena Vista and on to home track.  They were informed that 11 D&RG
trains were snowbound and the line blocked, but offered permission to buck
the line if they liked.  They did, and 40 days after leaving Como, returned
home.

Now, for those who understand steam operation, snow bucking, and the
terrain in question, it is mind boggling to try and grock what these guys
did, let alone find anyone today willing to push themselves that hard for
that long to accomplish a mission.  I spent 10 weeks out on a mission
without a shower or change of clothes in 130º heat and that was miserable.
But Marshall Pass in winter, keeping the engines moving and hot, 24/7 ???
No mention was ever made of food supplies or where they slept, or how
they scheduled that, but FORTY DAYS of that ?!!!!  WOW!  Those were
some tough SOB's !