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<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">Greg's description of the use of dampened
cotton waste by VGN crews to breathe through in tunnels reminds me what my
grandmother told me about a similar practice by the engine crews on the N&W
(my grandfather was an engineer on the Pokey). She said that the crews
would keep a bucket on the engine deck with water and burlap sacks in the
bucket, and they would wrap the sacks around their heads <EM>except for their
noses</EM>, and sometimes their noses would get blistered. The old, tight
Elkhorn tunnel, aka Coaldale tunnel, was probably the prime culprit it this
ordeal pre-electrification when an engine crew might be on the second engine
where they suffered from the heat thrown off by both engines as they went
upgrade through the tunnel.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Times New Roman">Gordon Hamilton</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org href="mailto:nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org">NW
Mailing List</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org
href="mailto:nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org">nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, May 22, 2009 10:21 AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: "Taking Twenty" with the
Virginian Brethren</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV><FONT face=arial,helvetica><FONT lang=0 face=Arial size=3
FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12">In a message dated 5/22/2009 6:59:25 AM Eastern
Daylight Time, <A
href="mailto:nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org">nw-mailing-list@nwhs.org</A>
writes:<BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0 style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff"
face=Arial color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"
BACK="#ffffff"><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"
TYPE="CITE"><B>Jimmy,</FONT><FONT lang=0 style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff"
face=Georgia color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="12"
BACK="#ffffff"></B><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Georgia color=#000000 size=2
FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="10" BACK="#ffffff"><B>You "ain't" gettin' my waste ..
just because a bunch of ladies thought it was useless!</FONT><FONT lang=0
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Georgia color=#000000 size=3
FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="12" BACK="#ffffff"></B><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Georgia color=#000000 size=2
FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="10" BACK="#ffffff"><B>We railroaders know better.
That's why we save "everything"!</FONT><FONT lang=0
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Georgia color=#000000 size=3
FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="12" BACK="#ffffff"></B><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Georgia color=#000000 size=2
FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="10" BACK="#ffffff"><B>Jeff</FONT><FONT lang=0
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Georgia color=#000000 size=3
FAMILY="SERIF" PTSIZE="12"
BACK="#ffffff"></B><BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff" face=Arial color=#000000 size=3
FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="12"
BACK="#ffffff">==============================================<BR>Grandad (VGN
engineer W.R. Bloyd) kept a bunch of cotton waste in the garage in Victoria
and used it for things like cleaning shotgun bores, fishing reels and cleaning
stubborn bug juice and other stains off the car and other metal and wood
surfaces around the place. <BR>Grandad said that VGN steam locomotive crews on
the west end had used water-dampened waste to breathe through when going
through tunnels. <BR><BR>Greg Harrod<BR>Fredericksburg,
Va.</FONT><BR><BR><BR>**************<BR>Kick start your favorite grad’s career
with mobile email for under $50.
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100122638x1221971194x1201441917/aol?redir==http://www.getpeek.com/aol)
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