6 axle power on that railroad is simply a BAD IDEA. Deteriorated track conditions make it an even worse bad idea. That hill is full of curve worn 85, 90 & 110 lb iron. There were curves where the flanges were riding on the joint bars on the outside of the curves. It is good to have a high-rail close at hand when they put that big piece of crap on the ties because of wide gauge on the 16 degree curves.

When I went to work for EEE at the Arizona Eastern all trains were followed by a high-rail to check for broken rails. They had a good excuse though - most of the mainline was still laid with 75lb rail dating from the original construction. The section crew generally found one broken rail a day. They changed more rails than ties out there. To Ed's credit, he did a lot to shore up the AZER and give it decent track, thanks to the FRA loan he then had to pay back when he sold the AZER.