So there we were spending the night in the Spreader derailed in an avalanche waiting for rescue for the third time this week. The work train engines showed up around 4am and we all started getting ready to dig out the Spreader starting a daylight. We had some flashlights and two big flood lights but for safety reasons we decided to wait plus we wanted to eat and be ready. On the train was Hobart Kent the Division Engineer, basically number two in command below the Superintendent. Having a Big Shot like Hobie onsite made everyone stand a little taller trying to make points with the upper management.
Long before daylight we were all out there ready to start the big dig out. The spreader was off the tracks, but the wheels were not down below the rails as they would be in a regular derailment but instead this time the wheels were floating in the air a couple of feel above the rails suspended by the outstretched wings on either side. I was more than surprised to think we would have to dig out by hand. I came from the System Steel gang where we used machines not brawn, but the old timers just laughed and started in with their shovels making giant sized steps in the snow bank going up the hill faster than I could complain about it.
One thing for sure, shoveling snow sure is lighter than shoveling the track ballast. It's almost fun by comparison. And once you get shoveling in a rhythm even the coldest wind becomes a cooling breeze to keep the sweat under control until you finally find the perfect balance between blizzard and balm. Before long we were spending more time moving snow we had already moved once and even the old timers were starting to look discouraged but just then the gang from Crescent Lake showed up unexpectedly from out of no where and behind them was Larry Shadd on the D9 cat, the only piece of equipment that could move snow better than the spreader.
When asked why he hadn't called ahead to let us know he was coming, the Foreman Bob Wilbanks told Ray Smith the Roadmaster that he didn't want to get our hopes up until he knew he was going to make it through. The real reason he didn't call was because they would have told him not to come because there is a rule against letting the cat run on top of the rail through the tunnel but now the deed was done no one was going to say no. Within an hour the cat had cleared enough snow from the cut to let the spreader open it's wings again and finally land the wheels on the track again.
In the last three days we had been stuck on this hill three different times, first on the Motor Car then on the Flanger and now on the Spreader. That was more than enough and we just wanted to get back to the relative comfort of the company housing at Fields. Then just as quickly as the snow had stacked up it was suddenly shrunk by a sudden wave of warm rain that knocked out all the ice followed by calm skies and some sun to complete the effect of the storm ending. We were back home in time for dinner that night as the trains started rolling at full speed both ways. The gas was back on for all switch heaters and the electricity was back on and the generator turned back off.
It was one of those times you never forget.
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