Chris Allan Wrote:
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> I used to love hearing Gerry Hanford's stories of
> life on the K&H. Including the runaway Heisler
> that destroyed one of the cabooses, Gus rolling
> his 4x4 truck completely over and getting out to
> dust himself off and continuing on. My favorite is
> the lineshaft belt tightening device, a jack under
> one corner of the shop that would lower the whole
> decrepit building starting the lathe in motion. I
> regret I never made it up to meet the man. I know
> many who worked for him would stop by to check up
> on him right up to the end. Sounds as if life
> never beat him down and he never lost his spirit.
> JCA


I took Gerry up there at least once with me in '72 and he was pretty taken with the
operation, so much so that he and Hank went to work for Gus the following summer. Al
Shelton & I came up once or twice and gave them a day off. By then, Heisler 10 had
some serious mechanical woes and we were using 2-8-2T 17 on the 8.6% grades, something
I doubt, Alco had never envisioned for the machine.
You are right about Gus...I had joked with Dan Ranger about us publishing a cheap rag and
titling it GUS STORIES. Some of them would be actually printable.