MP 8 - Jeffreytown

Montour Railroad

Milepost 8 Jefferytown



This photograph was taken leaning out of the caboose of Montour RR light engines East. Its not my photograph, but was taken using my former Mamiya/Sekor 35mm MSX 500 film camera. About 1978 or so, Montour RR Brakeman R.E. Parkinson offered to take this elderly film camera with him while at work, and record for me images of the Montour RR as he saw it. Some of Roy's images, like my early photos, were rough. Some of Roy's images, came out sparkling. On this early sparkling Spring day, Roy is Eastbound behind a unusual consist of three SW-9's. By the late 70's, three unit consists of SW-9s were rare out on the road. So it is thought todays Eastbound is the Champion Job. Three locomotives for a McDonald Turn. 30 Years later, seems like this shot was taken just yesterday. How many times have I made this trip through the Jeffrey Town...Eastbound ... Westbound... All of those trips were made from up front, riding the SW-9's. And many of those trips up front were made with me behind the throttle. I count myself lucky back in those days. Most of the guys I rode with understood my fascination. And many of those railroaders vacated the right hand seat so I could run the SW-9's. Wether we were light engines or traveling with a train... I can still feel how the SW-9's rode over this section of track. Many railroaders knew were they were just by the ride... Here at the Jeffre yTown, few mud holes and the SW-9's slammed those track joints hard. Train speed back then depended on the Engineman. Even though the timetable said 15 MPH, most engineman had their own pace. Jack rolled them and John B. dragged his feet. They all had their independent style. No side to side dancing over this rough track, just a up and down motion in the locomotive. You could hear the drawbars banging on the uneven track. You could hear any loose angle bars at the rail joints. My trips with light engines through here were often accompanied by slowing the locomotives to a crawl while inside the Jeffrey Town... A quick center of the reverser... Then a quick sucession of throttle positions, Run 1 through Run 8... I wanted to enjoy the roar of those EMDs while inside the Jeffrey Town. Sure for a few seconds the guys back in the hack were enveloped in exhaust. But it was only for a minute or two. But the experience... I still see it...I still sense it...I still remember it... Gene P. Schaeffer

	Jeffrerytown sign on the Montour Trail.