The GN power mentioned was always on #'s 97 and 88. This was the result of an agreement whereby Q E units would run through to Havre, MT. on #31 rather than change engines at St. Paul. In exchange, #88 would continue on to Clyde with GN power that would turn and become 97's power the next day, or as soon as Clyde Diesel shop could resuscitate them. This was the classic JUNK power of the decade !!! Few trips on either train were completed without at least one catastrophic engine failure and, usually, MORE than one. On one memorable trip Charlie Wright and Art Krahn were commin' over So. River St. on 88 when everything went ta ****. Seems the pilot of their lead unit fell off the engine and they, of course, ran over it. While runnin' over the pilot they fell off the tracks and nearly ended up in the river. Some readers may remember a massive derailment that resulted in freight cars hangin' off the bridge over River St. and cattle roamin' the streets on the south end of Aurora. The stock cars were supposed to be set out on the Sheep Yard lead but never quite made it. These exchange units remained on 88/97 'till the boys at Clyde got 'em runnin' again. When that happened they were replaced with a different bunch of units that were in the same shape as the previous set. I have had sets of these beasts on one of those two trains that had units that had blown up but were left in the consist for months. Rusty, oil covered walkways, piles of sand in the engine room and inspection covers everywhere. THESE were the GN engines we had to put up with in the 60's. I hope this helps explain the presence of GN units in the 60's Chuck.

Those were the GREAT days of RR'ing. as far as I'm concerned but the GN junk we were saddled with took some of the "joy" out of it. I can't recall the no. but one of those beasts, a GN F3A, nearly killed me on train 88 at Dugan X'ing. years ago. I witnessed, first hand and up close, a crankcase explosion that totally destroyed the prime mover and, very nearly, yours truly.

Shortly after this photo was shot, the gentlemen all went about the business of railroading. John however was curious about the spitting sound that the locomotive was making. There is a device on locomotives that separates the water from air when it is compressed, and expels the water automatically causing the spitting sound. John apparently was unfamiliar with that device and must have thought that the drain cock at the bottom of the air tank was not closed completely. He reached under the tank and turned the valve, which he opened by mistake instead, which expelled the water at the bottom of the tank at the full air pressure of around 100 pounds per square inch. The valve happened to be directly over the rail and the expelling water hit the rail and bounced back on John. After he corrected the error, the Engineer looked down from the cab at the soggy Conductor and said, 'Now now, mustn't play with the locomotive boys.'

I was in high school during the years I knew John and the crew of the East End Way Freight. So I only hung around the railroad when I wasn't in school, which is to say on holidays and during the summer. I got familiar enough that I was allowed to do certain chores, one of which was to go to the Kroehler cafeteria and get coffee for the crew. This served several purposes; it got me out of the crew's hair, it made me feel like I was part of the crew, and the crew got free coffee. As it happened, my step-father ran the cafeteria, so I took the crew's thermos bottles and filled them up for free. On occasion, there was no time for my coffee services, so John made coffee in the waycar. I had never had coffee, so when it was offered to me, I felt like I should have some, being an honorary part of the crew. Perhaps it was because it was my first cup, or perhaps it was because that old coffee pot could have used a cleaning, but it was dreadful. Nevertheless, I drank it and made the best smiley face I could as I sat on the bunk in the coal-heated waycar with the crew. But I was more enthusiastic about my coffee services after that.