Web Site designed by:
No Limits Web Design!
All rights reserved. No part of this web page may be used
without permission of the owner.
Down the Grade.
When the grade was in
operation, the most difficult task was to get a fully loaded coal train from
the top to the bottom, all the while retaining control of hundreds of tons
of coal and steel. In order to safely run the grade, each train was required
to make a stop in the town of Saluda, N.C. Here the train is prepared for
the trip down the grade.
The first step was to completely lock
down the brakes on the first several cars of the train. Then the retainers
were set up on each of the rest of the cars. This was all done by hand by
the brakeman. (See picture below)
This coal train is stopped in downtown
Saluda, N.C. prior to starting down the grade. The brakeman is in the
process of setting the brakes and retainers.
This process took close to an
hour as each car had to be set up and then checked to make sure it was ready
for the trip down the mountain. One veteran railroad man said of this
stretch of track, “Either you run that train or it runs you” This section of
track was probably the most difficult in the country as far as day to day
operations went. I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to witness
several coal trains go down the grade. It is an experience I will never
forget.
After the train rolls out of
Saluda it starts down the grade. Following it down on Pearsons Falls road is
an experience every rail fan should have! The most striking thing is the
noise. I have never heard anything else like it. Ever. The screeching sound
of the brakes as they fight to hold back the awesome weight of the train
against the grade is a sound that will stay with you always. It is a
groaning and squealing noise. There is a sense of the power and the stress
on the machine as it does battle with the mountain. It is almost eerie in
it’s quality. Like the screech of something from the netherworlds.
