My Trip over Summit Hill
by: Aaron Coyan
My Trip over Summit Hill
by: Aaron Coyan
Finally, I have gotten around to writing this. Thank goodness I have a journal account of that day, or I might have forgotten even more of the details over the years. I hope I have written this in such a way as to be interesting to other people........
I went to work with my Dad, Tom Coyan, on June 29, 1979, as I did on many summer days in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He was the DT&I signal maintainer at Jackson from 1971 through early November, 1982, and his territory extended from Ironton to Washington Court House.
We went to Washington Court House that morning to check the crossing flashers in the city, and the order board signal and radios at the depot. We headed south after lunch, taking state route 753 through Good Hope to check the crossing flashers there. Just north of Greenfield, we noticed a southbound DT&I train was stopped to pick-up/set off at the "plastic plant" there This plant was reached via a branch line about one-half mile long that crossed state route 41 just outside of Greenfield. (I believe that the plant produces some type of auto parts. It is still served by I&O). The first car of the train was along Paint Creek at the former "Island Grove" site (see page 24 of Trostel's DT&I book), just north of town off of state route 41. We stopped there and waited until they returned from the plant and coupled onto the train. Dad asked the crew if I could ride with them to Waverly. They said yes, and I excitedly climbed aboard the lead locomotive, GP-40 421, and took the seat in front of the head brakeman.
I really enjoyed the scenery south of Greenfield from a train crew's perspective, rather than my usual perspective from state route 41. This included going under the B&O at Thrifton; running alongside route 41 through Fruitdale and Humbolt; crossing the big steel bridge over Paint Creek just north of Bainbridge; and running alongside U.S. 50 east of Bainbridge. However, I was about to get an even better perspective - from the engineer's seat!
About half the way up Summit Hill, the engineer (Fred Finfrock, I believe) got up and asked if I'd like to sit at the controls. Of course I did! He gave me a quick lesson on the throttle, brakes, and horn, and told me to try to keep the speed at twenty miles per hour. I was in control of a train consisting of empty N&W hoppers, some mixed freight, and a few shop cars. I had to keep a constant watch on the speedometer due to variations in the grade. Anytime the speedometer would slip below twenty on a steeper section of grade, I would push the throttle up a notch, and wait a few seconds for an increase in speed. If none, I would push it up another notch. When the speed would climb above twenty on a less steep section of grade, I would do the opposite with the throttle, and even apply the brakes lightly if necessary.
At one point (exact location unknown), the speedometer slipped below 20, and continued to slip slowly downward even after pushing the throttle up one notch, then two... eventually, the throttle was in the 8th (highest) position, and the speed was still inching downward! After a while, it leveled off as the grade eased (I don't remember how low it went), and soon began to increase. When it climbed back up to twenty again, I backed off the throttle accordingly.
The engineer took over again as we neared Summit. I suppose he didn't trust a twelve-year-old boy with the delicate combination of throttle and braking during the descent into Waverly. I got off at the Waverly depot, ending a ride I have never forgotten!
My Trip on the Ironton Run
by: Aaron Coyan
Webmaster note: My
thanks to Mr. Coyan for sharing this story with me. He has more stories,
including a trip over Summit Hill, that he will be sharing in future posting. -
Eric
I was a freshman at Jackson High School in May 1982. My father was the signal maintainer for the DT&I and my Uncle Marlin Law was a DT&I locomotive engineer. He ran the Jackson Yard Job most of the time in the mid and late 1970s. In late 1980 or early 1981, the Jackson yard job and Ironton Turn were combined. That means there was one crew for both, rather than one for each. Service to Ironton was reduced to 2-3 days per week, as was the Jackson yard job, rather than both being 5 day per week jobs.
Uncle Marlin was the engineer on the last "regular" Ironton Turn, on May 13, 1982. After that, the Jackson yard job was discontinued, and the last few trips on the Ironton Branch were handled by crews and power from Springfield. Jackson switching tasks were also handled by the Springfield crew.
Now back to the story: My Dad arranged with my Uncle for me to ride with him on his last Ironton branch trip. I got out of school at 1:30pm that day and Dad took me to the depot about 2:15. The crew and I got onto GP-38 213 and did some minor switching tasks, including a trip over to the car shops, before finally leaving town about 3:50pm with 12 empty DT&I black hoppers. We went through Oak Hill about 4:30, and arrived Pedro about 6:00pm.
We pulled 6 loads of clay out of the siding, and pushed 6 of our 12 empties into the siding (6 cars was it's capacity). We took the 6 loads and remaining 6 empties to the siding at the north end of the tunnel to run around the train. The crew took a leisurely lunch/dinner break there. The remaining 6 empties were put behind the caboose, and were left on the main track at Pedro on our way back north. My Uncle allowed me to blow the horn for all of the crossings in Oak Hill on the way back that evening.
We never met the B&O local that evening. Perhaps it had already run, or that was one of the days they skipped. If I remember correctly, they weren't running 5 days per week by 1982.
Foolishly, I didn't take a camera with me!!!!!! My Dad had it to snap a photo of me on the train as we were leaving Jackson!
The following Thursday, May 20 (?), a crew from Springfield took 12 more empties down to Pedro and brought back the 12 we left there on the 13th.
The first "clean-up" train on May 27 brought back those 12 hoppers loaded with clay, plus 37 stored cars from various sidings. Those were the last revenue loads from the Ironton branch.
A brief history of the DT&I Ironton Branch
by J. E. Landrum & E.E. Davis
The Ironton Branch was originally built by the Iron Railway from 1849 to 1851 to haul iron ore products from the mines of southern Ohio to the river city of Ironton, which had a flourishing iron industry (as its name implies). It would become the oldest portion of the DT&I. It was a long way from the bustling Flat Rock Yard!
The line was abandoned in June 1982, so nature is reclaiming the old railroad very effectively now. Below are a few photographs of the only tunnel on the DT&I at Royersville (MP 351.4), some small bridges that were still standing in 1997, and the street trackage in Ironton.
The Ironton Run exists Royersville Tunnel on December 22, 1967.
Learn more
about the the early days of Southern Ohio Iron Manufacturing by visiting:
Charcoal Iron
Furnaces
Updated: 10/25/2004
©2001 E.E. Davis