Railroaders' Nostalgia > The Bear and the rebuilt rotary

Jim Mahon went to Colfax today to take a look at the rebuilt rotary. As he was climbing stairs up to the cab, Jim said that some crew member recognized him and he was welcomed aboard as some kind of hero. Someone said that he must have been "king of the mountain" because they still hear Bear stories.

Jim was very impressed with the rebuild and wished they had some of the improvements in his day. He particularly mentioned the new sealed roller bearings that support the main shaft that spins the fan. The old friction bearings were always overheating. Jim said there are now two modern traction motors that power the fan instead of the old four and he thinks power is supplied by the same prime mover in the trailing B unit but that it was rebuilt. Can someone confirm that?

He was also impressed with the new steam generator and the fact that the paint is still SP. This was as close as I have ever heard him come to saying something nice about UP.

He was invited by the crew to come with them the next time they are throwing snow. I think he will take them up on the offer, assuming that it ever snows again in California.

I could not be there because I am in New Jersey serving a mission for our church so I have not yet seen the photos that were taken. I will post the best ones as soon as I receive them from Nola.

Okay, here are the photos I promised. They were taken by Nola Mahon.

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The Bear is smiling because he knows he won't have to run this beast in the middle of a Sierras blizzard!

PHall Wrote: Don't think he would turn down the chance to play if they do ask him to go. He was impressed with what the guys did with his old rotary. We didn't get there in time to see the spreader.
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> The Bear is smiling because he knows he won't have
> to run this beast in the middle of a Sierras
> blizzard!

Posted from Android

donnerpass Wrote:
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> Okay, here are the photos I promised. They were
> taken by Nola Mahon.

He doesn't very much resemble the person in the photo in the second picture posted on this site under "Vagabond Train" August 11,2014

I have an old Video of SP snow removal in the Donner Pass area and it has some fantastic shots of not only the SP equipment but the "Bear" also. He certainly was and still is a legend in his days. The Video was produced by Video Rails about 20 years ago.

Jim

JLY Wrote:
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> donnerpass Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Okay, here are the photos I promised. They
> were
> > taken by Nola Mahon.
>
> He doesn't very much resemble the person in the
> photo in the second picture posted on this site
> under "Vagabond Train" August 11,2014


Neither do your photos from the SP Bulletin in the late 60s, Bill

WAF Wrote:
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> JLY Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > donnerpass Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Okay, here are the photos I promised. They
> > were
> > > taken by Nola Mahon.
> >
> > He doesn't very much resemble the person in the
> > photo in the second picture posted on this site
> > under "Vagabond Train" August 11,2014
>
>
> Neither do your photos from the SP Bulletin in the
> late 60s, Bill


Boy, isn't that the truth!!!

Chooch Wrote:
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> I have an old Video of SP snow removal in the
> Donner Pass area and it has some fantastic shots
> of not only the SP equipment but the "Bear" also.
> He certainly was and still is a legend in his
> days. The Video was produced by Video Rails about
> 20 years ago.
>
> Jim

Great video; highly recommend - one of the few that I like to watch over time and again.

Rick

Yes great video!

According to one of the crew at Colfax on Saturday, the plow has 2 traction motors from a SD60, and the F7B now sports a 12-645 prime mover, but still roots blown, no turbo. The same guy told me the plow fan is driven by AC traction, which raised red flags, since SD60s were DC only, except for the SD60MACs, which are all at TTCI in Pueblo. The same gus also said, they plan to add traction motors to one truck of the F7, so they can hostle the plows without a locomotive.

Any confirmations to any of this is welcome!

donnerpass Wrote:
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Jim said there are now two modern
> traction motors that power the fan instead of the
> old four and he thinks power is supplied by the
> same prime mover in the trailing B unit but that
> it was rebuilt. Can someone confirm that?
>
> He was also impressed with the new steam generator
> and the fact that the paint is still SP. This was
> as close as I have ever heard him come to saying
> something nice about UP.
>
> He was invited by the crew to come with them the
> next time they are throwing snow. I think he will
> take them up on the offer, assuming that it ever
> snows again in California.
>
> I could not be there because I am in New Jersey
> serving a mission for our church so I have not yet
> seen the photos that were taken. I will post the
> best ones as soon as I receive them from Nola.

There was a conductor on SFE out of Richmond named Bill the Bear Berry. Was he related to SP's Bear?

s Jim "Bear" Mahon, not Berry.


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