Steam Doubleheaders

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I worked as a laborer in the N&W Durham shop the summers of 1954-56 and 
I heard much mention of a "Winfall pusher.  This pusher assisted freight 
trains out of Lynchburg's Island Yard, up the stiff 2.6 percent grade to 
12th Street and on another 16 miles to Winfall where so-named pushers 
cut off to go back to Island Yard.  Some pushers, however, continued on 
the train all of the way to Durham.  These were Y class steam 
locomotives and when two came in on a train it put quite a strain on us 
laborers and other crafts in that small, sparsely-equipped shop to get 
them serviced.  You can imagine what we felt on one memorable day when a 
train came from Lynchburg with double-headed Ys on the head end and a Y 
pusher on the rear--all of which needed servicing!

Gordon Hamilton

On 2/5/2021 1:49 PM, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List wrote:
> Quite often, in steam days, time freights were pushed all the way from 
> Roanoke to Winston-Salem. Even, in the diesel era, Belews Creek coal 
> trains are pushed on the Punkin Vine.
>
> Dick Kimball
>
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