Steam & Excursion > Her Engineer Can Relax When His Freight Train Is This Short!

The Camino, Placerville & Lake Tahoe Railroad that ran between Placerville and Camino, California was known for it's steep grades and roster of 2 Shays as the sole steam power on the line.  The main comodity carried by the line was lumber from the big Michigan-California Lumber Co. mill in Camino.

On this sunny summer day in the late 1940's we see CP&LT 3-truck Shay #1 and a very short revenue freight train headed down-grade towards Placerville.  With only a single loaded boxcar in tow, #1's engineer can relax and enjoy the ride as we see here.

Martin



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/20 04:04 by LoggerHogger.

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Looks like they impounded an empty C&O car and got some revenue out of it rather than sending it back to the East as an empty.

-LD

Better stop and set reatainers with that load.

I have hear old time engineers comment that they wanted enough cars to let the train brakes do the work going down grades, they did not want to use the independent locomotive brakes because that heats up the wheels too much.  Overheated wheels can loosen driver tires.  Some engines had water spray appliances to cool the drivers.
In the old days the SP kept a pool of empty box cars to add to otherwise solid trains of lumber loads to help them brake down the 3%+ grades on the Siskiyou line.
He might be happier with another 3-5 cars, preferably empty.

In talking to the crew in later years they were very leary of bringing down the 44 tonner with less than 4 cars, it wasn't
much for effective engine brakes. They made two crossings of a very busy Hwy 50 on a grade so a bit of fore thought
was mandated. The train in the Shay shot was most likely run to pick up needed empties in Placerville. There wasn't
a lot of storage tracks at Camino so the in/oul balance was carefully watched. 

Out 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/20 13:06 by callum_out.

Regarding the C + O box, as I understand it, it is probably full of finished wood products and will be interchanged with the SP at Placerville.

At the time of the shot there was still quite a bit of "clear" lumber available and it was indeed shipped out in boxes. Later years were a
bit weird as Camino originated cars of lumber outbound while the SP brought cars of lumber inbound to the molding mill in Diamond
Springs. Local content just wasn't what it used to be.

Out 
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/20 16:11 by callum_out.

railstiesballast Wrote:
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> I have hear old time engineers comment that they
> wanted enough cars to let the train brakes do the
> work going down grades, they did not want to use
> the independent locomotive brakes because that
> heats up the wheels too much.  Overheated wheels
> can loosen driver tires.  Some engines had water
> spray appliances to cool the drivers.
> In the old days the SP kept a pool of empty box
> cars to add to otherwise solid trains of lumber
> loads to help them brake down the 3%+ grades on
> the Siskiyou line.
> He might be happier with another 3-5 cars,
> preferably empty.

This hogger doesn't look worried.

-LD

Did the Shays have a capability to brake with the engine (and gears) rather than with a standard steam engine only application?  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/20 12:16 by dougd.

Shays (and the other geared types to a lesser extent) do have some built in resistance when the throttle is closed, due to the geared machinery involved. But in heavy grade situations it isn’t enough to make that much difference. However on a lightly graded line it definitely will not roll like a rod engine.

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