Tom Moungovan Wrote:
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> 91, when all together as a 3T machine was a
> pretty impressive locomotive and got down the
> track about as fast as a 44" drivered
> rod engine. I had a little experience both
> running and firing her in 2005 and didn't
> like her at all. The cab is very poorly laid
> out with the independent and automatic
> brake valves several feet apart. You have to
> stand most of the time while running her
> and really wrestle with the throttle as the
> packing is so darned tight that it takes two
> hands to regulate it. Just my opinion.

Ah, yes, Tom was impressed by the throttle. I hadn't run the 91 since 2007 until it went back into service last summer. It still takes two hands (or maybe a ratcheting cable puller, your choice!) to work the throttle which is especially fun on the days of both first and last of the three round trips running in reverse. The throttle packing is necessarily kept so tight because if it is loosened any the apparently worn out throttle linkage makes the operation intolerable. It came back into service last summer after getting two new tires but it's worn out enough overall that it just needs a general shopping which had been planned for this year but now has been set back a notch in favor of another engine which has been requested. Stathi spent a lot of time last season just keeping it running when he was expecting to be working on the 70. I've fired it for Stathi and he just loves the throttle too! Even with the steam pressure reduced because of the disconnected third truck it can be quite slippery on unfavorable rail.

Even with its ailments I still like running it. With its good-sized drivers it's easy to keep the advertised schedule. I first saw it in the 1960s when it arrived in Banks, Oregon for display when I was an SP&S fireman being called to work the VSP&S 2-6-2 #105 between Banks and Vernonia. Contrary to the indication on the MRSR website, it never went to Vernonia.