Railroaders' Nostalgia > Rescue Knuckle Train for Swede on the Plainville Branch

When the UP was still in the branch line business, the three branches we worked out of Salina, KS, the McPherson, Plainville and Solomon, were all ballasted with what we called "Sherman Hill".  This ballast was so named because it came from a quarry in the area of Sherman Hill in Wyoming.  Unlike main line hard rock ballast, Sherman Hill was mostly dirt with a few pebbles of rock thrown in.  I used to cringe every time I caught a branch line ballast train off the extra board.  Unlike rock ballast, the Sherman Hill would harden in the cars and we would have to shake the cars back and forth to get it loose. It went against every train handling procedure we were ever taught.   Set the engine brakes, wind up the engines to run six or so and release the brakes and launch forward a car length of so and then shut the throttle off and slam on the engine brakes.  All this without coming to a complete stop and doing it all over again.  This worked OK until you got about ten cars from the head end.  Then you had the head end empty cars jerking against the remaining loads and the knuckles would fly.  A Sherman Hill ballast train always carried a gondola full of knuckles for obvious reasons. 
Most Sherman Hill ballast trains were 30 to 40 cars.  In 1985, they decided to run a 75 car ballast train up the Plainville Branch.  My extra board cohort, T.L. "Swede" Ingermanson, caught the darn thing.  They were unloading around Natoma, KS about MP 87 on the Branch.  After two days, Swede had gone through the extra car of knuckles and they were at a standstill. 
Witness the Plainville Branch Local, No. 183 approaching Trenton, KS at MP 3.  The two Katy units with a UP GP30 seem to be monster power for this little train.  Well, tomorrow, the eastbound Local No. 184 will pick up close to 100 loads of wheat.  What is relevant are the 7 gondola cars carrying knuckles for Swede.  As is common on the railroad, nicknames are common.  Well, this was named the "Swede Rescue Train". 
As much as I hated the Branch ballast trains, I would give anything to have the Branches back.  All are gone now with the exception of the Solomon Branch which is operated by the Kyle Railroad.  They were good jobs. 

UP Local No. 183, the "Swede Rescue Train" approaching Trenton, KS.
August 15, 1985

Thanks for Listening.

Bob Helling
PRose



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/16/16 10:57 by PRose.

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Apparently the bean counters could not compare the cost of knuckles to the low cost of the lousey ballast very well and get a proper answer on their monitors . . . . . .

remember that MOW budget was seperate from operations which is seperate from mechanical.  So, cheap ballast made the MOW people look good and don't worry about anyone else!  

Nice look back at the way it was and great commentary.
JB

Every terminal has those jobs that nobody wants but this one takes the cake. Nice story Bob. Helluva' way to run a railroad!

Never heard of carrying a gondola full of nuckles with a work train. How many knuckles did they carry? I've shook ballast hoppers before and do not recall getting a knuckle.
​Understand unloading "dense" ballast would require shaking. Our ballast on the Old L&N would generally flow nicely other than what was hung up on the slope sheets than shake them to clear it.

Steve Panzik
​Chiloquin, Or.

 

Bob, that was called Sherman Hill waste out here. It was perfect ballast in the yards for footing but, like you said, it was not the best to dump on the mailine. It really wasn't dirt but it was very finely crushed reds granite rock into chips. That pit closed down in the late 80's or early 90's (I believe). The regular ballast pit at Granite is still pumping out trains to this day.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

The branchlines being almost removed is indeed missed. When the Salina-El Dorado run-through began in 6/85 this launched a decade long of transforming the "new" McPherson branch into a busy stretch of trk for a branchline rr. For the last half of '85, the LKE52/53 locals were double sided. If I recall, normally the two trains would meet @ Hesston. Newton was a big provider of SF interchange traffic which mostly consisted of bulk flour in ACFX hoppers going to STL (and onward to east coast on B&O), plus sacked export (Egypt) flour to the TX coast in MP/UP Railbox cars.
Bob stated in a speaking program in Wichita several yrs ago that management then decided to add more tonnage to the locals which then the consist swelled to 90-100 cars. Good memories from a line many yrs ago that is indeed missed