I am a Amtrak Engineer working Jax. To Tampa and go by this engine four times a week. She is a beauty in color as well as many memories of my past working in Sanfor Fl. Yard. I took one like her No 49 on the Umatilly Turn. A day I will never forget. It rained all day and we fell down and had to double the hill. A Florida hill at that. She had a steam engine brake vale a 6-ET.
Better Story.
I was working the Davenport Turn out of Kisimmie and we had to swithc the sand pit. It was raining and we did not have any sand. The pit was on an incline. We were slipping and sliding. I called the dispatcher and told him we could not switch the sand pit. He said your at the sand pit get some sand. So I told the sand pit forman we needed some sand and he said back it up under that shoot. The shoot was 24x24 the sand box cover on the engine was 6 inches square. The forman said to a man standing on the hopper. When I tell you hit the button. All he herd was hit the button and he did. We now had Six ton of sand on our engine. It took two hours to dig her out then here cam a man waring a white had and a clip board wanting me to sigh the bill for six ton of sand at $ 35.00 per ton. The next day S.C.L. had a box with bags of sand for us. Funny but true.
