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Today's Lament is a Special Edition, for it deals with Wednesday's exclusive activity: Hy-railing.
Here in Spring Hill we are preparing for the next challenge of this job- dispatching the INRD. The Indiana Railroad is the former ICG line from Effingham to Indianapolis. ICG (and later IC) elected to focus their attention on the CIPS Newton generating station and abandon the rest of the line. INRD stepped up and bought the line and has been running on it ever since. Traffic has grown to the point where the INRD wanted 24 hour per day, 7 days a week train coordination and the CP offered our services. So today we took a familiarization trip on the INRD.
I awaken eagerly at 0400 (yea, right), wander around in the rain closet, grab my track profiles, pick up the second trick dispatcher, and go to the tower for our cab ride. We cab most anxiously to Linton where the Manager of Road Operations fires up the INRD Hyrail Bronco. We exchange our greetings and off we head for Newton, IL.
We make a quick pit stop in Newton to partake in a healthy, railroad style meal (Hardees), and head off for the rails. This Bronco is equipped with a manual type Hyrail package. This means that the operator positions the vehicle and then has to manually lower and lock the Hyrail package using a lock bar. Needless to say this can be a time consuming process, depending on the familiarity the individual has with the vehicle. This process thus became a long process. A truck driver waiting to get by us had to wait about 5 minutes while we set on. Those folks in Illinois sure are friendly. They liked us so much they even waved at us with one finger. Must be some kind of new greeting or something.
So we start this 100 + mile extravaganza. As we click clack down the rail, our host is answering our questions and giving us a quick guided tour while also attempting to avoid being a highway statistic at each grade crossing. I guess octagonal red signs at each grade crossing have no meaning in this part of the world. So we Hyrail eastbound on this track. Hyrailing is kinda neat for about 30 minutes and then it gets old. So by the time we hit the state line I'm getting to the point where this field trip has lost its charm.
For anyone in the southern Indiana or southeastern Illinois region, the INRD has just purchased a number of former MILW SD-10s. Numbers I saw included 555, 549, 572 and 560. They also had an SD-20 (600) at their Switz City engine facility. And for those who track odd power, try the SD-18s of C&O, complete with the ALCO C axle trucks. And they have a bunch of those. Mix in a few Uceta GP-16s, and you have an eclectic but fun kind of roster. Their facility at Switz City is about 6 months old and is very nice. I took a few pictures inside for my own gratification. I guess that's one of the perks of doing these kind of things.
For those who have never been over a railroad trestle, it is a...well, unique experience. Unique in that there is actually very little in the way of safety appliances should the train, or the Hyrail truck, derail. Now on this INRD there are a number of rather large and interesting bridges over rivers, including the Wabash and White rivers just to name a few. The White River bridge is something like 60 or 70 feet down, so one slip and you've got a little time to think about it. But the best was Tulip Trestle. The other dispatcher I was with had mentioned to our guide that there might be a Tulip Bridge somewhere on the line. Oh, you mean Tulip Trestle. That ol' thing. Just a little bridge. So here we are in this rock cut east of Bloomfield and we come around a corner and...there it is!
HMMMMM. Little bridge? 13 spans! 168 feet high! About 15 stories to you and me! Oh, and hope the gusts of wind don't blow us off! And as we crawl across this natural wonder at a leisurely 10 mph, 2 things cross my mind. What a nice view, and I guess I can take off my safety belt because it really won't do me much good in this situation.
All this comes as I look out the window and see nothing but air between me and the ground. Not really my idea of great fun, but it was interesting nonetheless. And that is how I spent my Wednesday.
I was talking to one of the old heads from down here, and he relayed a truly interesting story to me.
On the Latta Sub, we serve the US Navy's Crane Surface Weapons Research Center. Among other things, they explore new and exciting ways to blow things up. But in the past they functioned more as an arsenal. And it was during the Vietnam War that this story took place. The agent at Crane, among other things, was responsible for making sure weapons shipments were shipped properly according to DOD and Navy requirements and specifications. And one of their requirements was that any shipment moving live ammo had to have what was called an impact recorder on the car. This device was something like a portable seismograph. It sensed vibrations and then charted them on a roll of paper. This device was in a case similar to a small hard shell luggage case. The agent would thread the roll of paper through the platen, write the date and time on the roll, initial it, wind up the recorder, listen to the ticking to make sure it was working, and then secure the recorder to the car. Any impacts over damaging speed, 4 mph, would be recorded and investigated by the government.
Now this was on any loaded car, and Crane would send and receive loads, and it was on a received load that this particular mishap developed. Now usually the agent would, upon receiving the loads, have the switch engine spot them in the Navy's yard and then go inspect them. This required checking the cars for broken seals and, among other things, taking the recorders off and processing those rolls. And while he was processing those rolls, the inspector from the Navy would do his inspection. If everything was on the up and up they would then accept the shipments and off they would go.
Now on this particular day the agent was swamped with work. The switch engine spotted the loads and left. The brand new, recently promoted inspector now begins his inspection of the cars, about 2 cars in, he stops and listens. Tick, tick, tick, tick. He realizes the obvious: there's a bomb on the car! He rushes back to his office, phones base security, and I'm sure quite eloquently explains that there is a ticking bomb on one of the ammo cars just received. In moments, base security mobilizes one of the largest forces in the free world to investigate this. Yes, it is ticking! Quick, get the demo team.
So the demolition team shows up and, after some conferring, decide to eradicate the threat. That means blow up the bomb. So they sneak and crawl and slither around to the site, gingerly place their explosives, and retreat to a safe haven. Next thing the agent hears is a KaBoom! He rushes out to the car to find that the Navy had indeed succeeded in rather skillfully eradicating one US Government impact recorder! And they didn't even damage the car! Now that's skill!
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Editorial content (C) 1998 Mike Dettmers
