Re: Correction to Yreka Western flashback post on "The Other"
Author: sp4439
Date: 11-08-2019 - 10:19
The 244 arrived at the YW on flat car, since it had friction bearings and not legal for interchange. To unload it, a pit was dug in Montague with temporary track laid into it, to put the top of the flat car at ground level, and the engine rolled off onto another piece of track, then the flat car was removed and the pit filled in. (There are photos somewhere on the internet of this operation) Everyone at the YW hated the 244, it always had electrical problems and never ran properly, and never could manage to pull as much as the SW8 or the SD9. Only thing it did decently was haul the excursion train, since it was a lighter load than pulling 12 loaded veneer and chip cars up a 2% grade. At least once it died half way to Montague, and it wasn't able to be restarted, and all the passengers had to hike across a field to the highway and get bused back to Yreka. Another issue it had, was that when drifting down a hill, with air set, it would suddenly want to surge and take off (even though the throttle was in idle) Also, the 244 was notorious for puking oil every where. Whenever it came to a stop, about a gallon of oil would come sloshing out from the bottom of the locomotive.