Locomotive Engineer Rudy A. Borrego II, Local Chairman of BLET Lodge 662, Los Angeles, died November 9, 2013, in a traffic accident on Highway 138, not far from Drawbar Flats. Engr Borrego was up on Cajon pass to replace the flags, at the memorial, at Drawbar Flats, prior to Veterans Day. Engr Borrego had served in the Marine Corps 1988 to 1993, with Engr Gilbert Ortiz, during the Gulf War. He had hired on with Santa Fe in 1993, along with five other fellow Marines, who also became engineers. He was promoted to engineer in 1995, and became a union officer in 1997.

There are white crosses on a small hill overlooking Drawbar Flats, placed in memory of UTU Local 1674 Conductor Gilbert L. Ortiz and UTU Local 1544 Brakeman Kevin L. Williams, who died when the Santa Fe H BALAT1-31, ran away and derailed at MP 60.4, at 405am, on February 1, 1996. Locomotive Engineer Lester L. Foster was seriously injured in the wreck, which was caused by the combination of a kinked/blocked trainline, and an inoperative two way ETD. Four units and 45 cars were derailed, and four tankcars released hazardous materials, which ignited a fire. NTSB report is at:

[www.ntsb.gov]

You will have to open the PDF on this page to read all of it.

West of Gish along the old South Track is the unofficial name of Drawbar Flats, at approximately MP 60.1 to MP 60.9. For westward trains, coming down the 3.0 percent grade, the grade reduces briefly to 1.73 percent at MP 60.3. Continuing westward, the ruling grade then increases to 2.36 percent, at about MP 60.4, then at about MP 60.5, the grade abruptly drops off, resuming the 3.0 percent grade. All downhill, westward trains deal with the change in grade while negotiating curve Nos. 86 and 87, and tend to slow down, due to the reduction in grade, heavy braking, and friction or drag in the curves.

These compensated curves were intended to prevent eastward trains from stalling out when working hard uphill. It has been speculated that because these curves were graded as compensated curves, the curves could have been re-aligned to eliminate, or reduce, the lesser gradient. However, possibly due to the North Track being constructed in 1913, intended as the Eastward Main Track, this work was not done. Increased drag, from the combination of wheel flange friction, against the curved railheads, and the force of gravity on trailing tonnage, tends to slow longer eastward trains, working uphill, in addition to slowing downhill trains, as previously mentioned.

In the days before composition brake shoes and diesel electric locomotives with their dynamic braking, the old cast iron brake shoes lost efficiency with increased downhill speed. Conversely the cast iron brake shoes gained efficiency with loss of speed. This meant that locomotive engineers were on the very edge of good train handling, while controlling air brakes, and slack action, utilizing their trains’ momentum, in addition to using or negating the braking effect of the curves, while passing over the disrupted gradient.

In the old days, the accepted method of downhill train handling was known as short cycle and release. As westward tonnage started down from Summit , even with retainers properly setup, a brake pipe reduction or heavy brake application, “set” of the train brakes was made. The amount of this reduction, or brake application, was calculated by engineers through consideration of the trailing tonnage, but primarily through experience, or seat of the pants “feel.” Sometimes the initial brake application, utilizing the old No. 6 or No. 8 brake valves, was too much or too little, resulting in the train bogging down through Drawbar Flats, or taking the curves too fast.

The old No. 6 and No. 8 brake valves did not allow rapid recharging of the air reservoirs on the cars, therefore going to full release, and possibly running away downhill, was not the best option. If the train bogged down too much, in the area where the grade was reduced, pulling on the train to maintain speed was sometimes necessary. Under many of the outlined circumstances, the grades, curves, braking and/or pulling, caused slack action, which resulted in yanked out drawbars, (broken coupler shanks), and/or broken knuckles. Thus the unofficial name of Drawbar Flats was bestowed upon this location.

The improved 24L then 26L brake valves, along with dynamic braking, made the present method of balancing the grade possible, along with the virtual elimination of the need to stop, for the purpose of turning up retainers.

Locomotive engineers make an initial heavy application of the train brakes, while tipping over the grade at Summit , moving west. Engineers then regulate the downhill speed of their trains, by increasing or decreasing the amount of dynamic braking force. This makes for a smoother, and better controlled, westward descent of Cajon Pass , thus resulting in far fewer undesired emergency brake applications, along old Drawbar Flats.

Experienced locomotive engineers described allowing the train speed to creep up by just a few miles per hour, approaching Drawbar Flats, then allowing the lesser gradient to drag/slow the train down to about 17 to 20 mph, thereby sliding right across Drawbar Flats without bogging down, or causing severe slack action. This also requires keeping dynamic braking at a sufficient level of retardation, that does not allow the locomotive consist to “run out” ahead of the train, thereby causing slack action.

Santa Fe and UP trainmen got a perverse thrill out of chalking the rusting drawbars, and broken knuckles, that littered the curves of Drawbar Flats, with the names of engineers involved. Epitaphs were often chalked on such railroad junk by trainmen. This was due to the fact that the trainmen were the employees who did the walking, and often had to repair these problems, to get their stalled trains moving again. The advent of Burro cranes with electro-magnets, utilized to pick up scrap, and better access for heavy equipment, cleaned up most of the rusted, steel remnants of past train separations.

Here is a story Rudy Borrego wrote for the BLET Journal. See pages 12 and 13 of the PDF. [www.ble-t.org]