Buckland Brothers

[NW Mailing List]

I'm sorry, tried to be brief and I got cryptic.  Robert liked "fast" and
loved the Class A's, but both were hard to come by on the Pokey.  Mail
(23/24) and passenger second sections ran 1200's for a limited time around
the holidays.  He learned to run A's firing second 15 to Williamson, take
his rest, and second 16 back to Bluefield with the same A.  The only
regular runs 1200's made on the Pokey were the hot time freights 77/78
added in 1955, about the time he had enough seniority (engineer) to hold
them.

Both 77 and 78 stopped at Farm for servicing and 78 would take on a pusher.
Making time was priority on this run, so, by many accounts, a pusher was
added to an already short-tonnage train (A's were rated for 3000 tons on
Elkhorn and 78 was usually less), but Mr. Buckland claims he never took a
pusher except for mechanical trouble.  Another "policy"(?) was to run up
Elkhorn Grade with the reverse lever down in the corner (slow, max power
stroke), but he would hook the lever up higher out of the corner for better
performance, something he first learned on 1400's.  A fond memory was
demonstrating this to a skeptical Asst. Road Foreman of Engines.

On 78 in Williamson on "the night at the drive-in theater," he noticed
laborers wiping down the 1242 as he climbed in the cab, but had no idea Mr.
Link was waiting for him until the flash bulbs went off.

Grant Carpenter


> Message: 1

> Date: Sun, 31 Oct 2010 08:40:42 -0400

> From: NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Subject: Buckland Brothers

> To: <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>

> Message-ID: <60C9A0A2B49C447897C5D4D3B0D76336 at Gene>

> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

>

>  "L.W." Buckland is deceased, but I recently spoke with his brother

Robert,

> also an engineer in a family full of Pocahontas Division engineers.  L.W.

> first hired with the Pennsy for 2 years while the N&W was not yet hiring

> enginemen.  Robert hired on the N&W with a bridge gang to stay in

Bluefield

> and became the first engineman hired ('42) since the hiring freeze of '26,

> giving him seniority on the Division.  Some of his favorite runs were with

> 1200's on 77/78 and second 15/16.  He would skip the pusher on 78 and hook

> the 1200 up higher to climb Elkhorn.  One night while running the 1242 on

> 78, as he past the drive-in at Sandy Huff, "the whole countryside lit up

> bright as day."

>

> Grant Carpenter

>

>

> He would skip the pusher on 78 and hook the 1200 up higher to climb

Elkhorn.

>

>

> Mr. carpenter;

> Thank you for your message about the Buckland brothers, L.W. and Robert.

> Could you explain the above statement "Skip the pusher, and hook the 1200

up higher".

> I'm sure that it is railroad jargon?

> Thank you;

> Gene A.