[SFS] Doubleheader Dilemma - Glenbrook vs. Cumbres 1-on-1 

"Stories of why we are in the shop"

As a compliment to CoS, because of the thumbnail I thought it was a CoS devvlog lol

Everybody Wooping, hollering and all because an 1875 steam locomotive managed to pull not just her train but push her sick cousin up A 4 and a 1/2 % grade It makes me proud

Very cool story! If I may, I’d suggest keeping this format going. Not only telling your own stories, but every once in a while bringing a guest in to share one of their stories as well. It’s a great way to share additional perspectives and new stories. As always, great content and looking forward to more!

Everyone got excited when 4014 helped the stalled freight a while back, and it made some impressive sounds, but there's NOTHING like these old grandma locomotives giving it 110%, every single last ounce of tractive effort and steam those wood fired boilers can churn out, what a sound!

At about 11:40 just as the train was clearing the curve and before Glenbrook yelled 'BANZAI!!!' and took off I suddenly realized what "little engines" meant. The coaches are _enormous_ in comparison. Cumbres Pass may have eventually won that battle but ye gads it must have been worried when Glenbrook sang her fight song. Thank you for sharing and thank you Nick for the firsthand account. We need the story of the dinner train now please. :)

I LOVE how Glenbrook took that and ran and helped Eureka up the grade all by herself, what a seriously cool story this was, I NEED to hear about thr Dinner Train incident. Hearing a locomotive down a chuff is such a interesting noise. The engineer waving his lantern basically say "OPEN THE THROTTLE PLEASEEEEEE"

GLENBROOK is very beautiful and the fact it had to pull a train on her own is wild and the fact Eureka really said: do it yourself to glenbrook

That single triumphant toot from Glenbrook after shoving the Eureka up the grade is the most victorious toot to ever toot. I love those two engines and hope to get a chance to see them tackle the grade in person one day.

I was the fireman on the 315/425 that came up the hill that day to rescue the train. That was the fastest that locomotive probably has ever been. That was definitely a day to remember out of a fun and exhausting week.

The Norfolk and Western 611 pulled off this same trick on Saluda back in October 1992

Man. Is this the live action movie of "The Little Engine That Could"? What a cool story!

Good girl, Glenbrook! Working for the money, and look at you go, you little old lady! That was amazing to see footage of!

Really neat to see machines this old giving it 110%. Often in preservation, the mindset of "preserving" your locomotive comes into play and sometimes people don't run them this hard much anymore in 2024, so this was neat to watch!

Glenbrook looks like she's dancing. "Yeee! Look at me! Still got it, baby!"

I can now understand why the Big K’s (K-36, K-37) are preferred on Cumbres Pass. Such brutes of narrow gauge locomotives. Props to the crew of the Glendbrook and Eureka for giving it the old college try up one of the biggest grades in Colorado. Love it!

11:45 Glenbrook just went super saiyan and shouted "MOVE IT!" to Eureka 😂

This would make a good citation needed 😂

Easily one of my favorite styles of old steam, looove the pre-1900 stuff C: the ornate detailing, the way they run, the beauty of it, it's all just stunning and I can only hope I can get out west to see one of them in person someday!

18:20 They actually did something similar in an episode of Thomas the Tank Engine. They loosened the screw couplers to give it slack and picked up the cars one at a time. The narrator explained it to the audience as it was happening. Crazy that a children's show had such a thing imo. Didn't even consider it with knuckle couplers. Good stuff.

18:50 this is just Edwards Exploit but in real life. Absolutely amazing

18:45 Oh my god! This is the first I've seen this footage. I feel like a proud father. I grew up in Reno through the 70's-80's and seeing the Glenbrook at the Museum a lot was a part of that. It really is the Little Engine That Could. Oh and I believe the steepest part of any of the Grade that Glenbrook and Tahoe(#20) ever saw on their original alignments was just shy of 3%.

This put the biggest smile on my face. Holy crow! As soon as you said "old school railroading" I knew where this was going. That was absolutely incredible!

that hillstart was insane

That clip of the two engines coming around the “State Line Curve”, reminded me of watching the Thomas the Tank Engine 4th season story “You Can’t Win”.

Hey Hyce, so.... I accidentally had captions on..... according to youtube your name is Heist.... I found that more amusing than I shoulda done lol

Spectacular story and video! And even though in the end the Glenbrook did have to end up backing down from the grade and there may have been a look of disappointment amongst the crew, I would say it was a very successful trip regardless! We got to witness pre 1900’s steam locomotives giving their all, and that in and of itself is a wonderful experience.

It's always such a treat and a joy to see these grand old ladies in action. And I can definitely understand why Eureka was starting to struggle while Glenbrook fought on. Dan Markoff (Eureka's current owner) is a bit cautious about how often Eureka runs, as she still retains her original lap-seam boiler from 1875. It's definitely got some miles on it, which makes those old lap seams weak. We had a similar issue at Railtown when our No. 3 went in for her 1.2 million dollar restoration, where we ultimately went and had a brand-new boiler made with welded seams in order to fully preserve the original 1891 boiler, as the alternative would've been to drastically modify the original to strengthen the lap seams. It's an FRA rule, one that I am uncertain as to if it has any jurisdiction over narrow gauge equipment. Might be a question Hyce can answer. It's also why the Inyo retains her original boiler while the 3-Spot had to have a new one installed, because Railtown's excursions have to operate on an active freight railroad (Sierra Northern, the current form of the original Sierra Railway), while the Inyo gets to freely run around on a nice private loop around the NSRM to her heart's content. Speaking of the NSRM, it's worth pointing out that, like the 3, Glenbrook has a brand-new boiler. I can't remember if it used the old school lap seams or welded seams, but given that she has a new-ish boiler and is a 2-6-0 rather than a 4-4-0, Glenbrook is basically going to get the entire train and Eureka up as far as she can come Hell or High Water.

I believe it was 1981 when the No 2 (152) of the Huckleberry RR was being finished with a retubing over the winter; it was a few days late and the season started with using No 3 (a 15-ton 2-6-0 with 33-inch drivers) and No 1 (a GE 25 tonner) on the head end of a 10-car passenger train. After successfully running for a few trips, one of the gaskets in the branch pipe in the front end blew killing the draft anytime the throttle was opened. I was the track crew foreman then and was pulled to run the No 1 while the Supervisor fired No 3 and the regular train engineer ran No 3. I wound up pulling the train and pushing No 3 so No 3 was the whistle until we could finish the day and get the gasket replaced overnight. Strange time.

That was some old-school railroading right there, straight out of a memoir. The dance, the angry bark, totally at the limit. Glenbrook shows that the #mogulcult is alive and well.

I was there during the first 2 days of the Iron Horse Roundup, it was a fun event! I later heard of what happened to the Eureka and Glenbrook in the days following the event, but never knew WHAT exactly transpired. Wish I could've been there to see/hear the Glenbrook power up the grade like it did, quite literally the little engine that could.

I’ve learned so unbelievably much out of this video. Please upload more like this! Also the zuma replica and the eureka would look so cute together lol

Glenbrook is such a badass. Never seen a locomotive work so hard. Would have been amazing if she could have made it the rest of the way.

That is so unbelievably awesome, props to everyone involved

Hearing a story about steam engines over coming obstacles makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Reminds me a little of Edward's Exploit from The Railway Series, but better.

:) Thank you for sharing stories in this way And thank you Nick

Speaking of backing down against the handbrakes and giving it a good yank to start the train, Ive done that with 3 SD70's trying to move a switching cut. In the yard I was in, its downhill to the west, and we were on the east end trying to pull a cut of 108 cars up to make a cut on about 40 to switch. With 3 SD70's online, we couldn't get the cut to move. There was usually at least 5 handbrakes on the downhill end. I tried and tried but it wouldn't budge. My conductor said he was about to take off walking. I said hold on a min, let me try something. I eased of the independent and let gravity take me until I felt those brakes. I then came out on the throttle and gave it hell. My old head conductor was impressed to see 108 cars start moving, with 3 SD70's wide open, screaming for all they had. Sitting in 8, less than 2 miles and hour with the amp gauge bouncing off the needle maybe wasn't the best thing to do, but by golly I got that train to move 40 cars to the cut!

Great story. Little Engines and Big Men was a wonderful read for me, I believe by the time a I read the book, it was already out of print. I do wish it would be reprinted, I would definitely like to add it to my personal library.

Hi Mark, that was a fantastic story. And to hear it from one of the guys in the cab was ultra cool!!! Seeing the footage of old school railroading right out of the Little Engines book was like watching history come alive! I recall seeing the getting started on hill video but didn’t fully comprehend its significance until now. WOW-brought tears of joy to my eyes! I wish to add that Glenbrook and Eureka are absolutely beautiful choo choos! Like they’ve been lifted directly out of a period lithographic image! Many, many thanks to Nick Hovey for sharing his amazing story of that day. And as always many thanks to you Professor for this excellent latest edition of shop stories! Cheers to both you and Nick!

Your videos are always fantastic! It really made my father's day. And is good as your videos are, the music at the end is unbelievably good! I listen to every note, every time.

What an amazing video. All the clips are soo cool as well.

More Stories from the road please! This was awesome. Love the sound of Glenbrook working her heart out. So cool to see the history that has been saved.

Man when the video started YT asked if I wanted to become a member and I panicked thinking I lost my lantern 😂

23:47 I do believe that is the official wording in the rule book 😂

So great to see you and Nick coming together. Two fine gentlemen right here. Wish I could have made it to the roundup, it is incredible to hear about the camaraderie that took place!

That was an amazing story, and some incredible stack talk. At the risk of triggering the Thomas fans out there, this was less Edward pushing Gordon chanting "I will do it, I will do it!" and more Glenbrook just swearing and cussing up a storm back there, like "F*** Eureka, Move your fat a**! F***ing move it, F***ing move it!"

What a story!!!!! Thank you!

Glennbrook really went I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN I THINK I CAN!

i just noticed at 19:14 (after watching again with nice headphones) that you can hear eureka chuffing in the background of glenbrooks grunts of shoving her ass up the hill.

Nick would be awesome at 3/4 idiot series 😀. Sorry, but was Nick a volunteer? If he was, what is management going to do? Fire a volunteer? 😀

This story was hell of a watching experience. Great fight against "THE HILL", advanced yee olde techniques to get the ass moving and on- just amaizing. For those in preservation- one situation of the lifetime moment!

So you mean to tell me, two locomotives had problems that day and the other two beat the hill into submission for hurting their friend?

This is so cool. I know nothing about steam trains, but this seems so exciting especially after seeing railroads online and derail valley.

The only locomotive they’ve let me drive at the Museum. What a joy!

this makes me think even more of these loco's. victorian equipment not sitting in a museum, but absolutely calling down the thunder thrashing up a grade.

I’d love an in-depth video on what went wrong with Eureka! You said a hose fell off a pipe or something along those lines?

Nothing will ever beat the sound of a steam engine working hard ❤️❤️. And that waddle is just heaven ❤️❤️

And this is why we can't let old knowledge disappear!

18:49 so this is the same thing that happened in Edward story. Where his side rods snapped. So they have to add slack to pull each car one at a time.

I had no idea of what you lads were talking about when you were on the bit where the train stalled next to the water tower until 18:15 and I went "Holy fuck, it's Edwards exploit from Thomas."

"Shop talk" would be a great name for a podcast... would probably get you canceled, though lmao

Stories from the road

You forgot to say, “You’re my density, Lorraine”

I got the story from Carlos a few weeks later about the tea kettles battle on cumbres . Exellent stor .

On a somewhat related point. I learned and also had to do it once. If your car's automatic transmission get stuck engaged in gear as in the torque converter gets locked up, or if your car has a clutch and the clutch will not release the same idea should work. Some how you have to get the car moving, on a slight hill is best if you are alone. Once it is moving a bit and then put in it gear from neutral or a clutch car, force it in gear. Now in my case it was a automatic on and the torque converter stuck on. I had to circle around a few times till the traffic light where this happened. I had to was time it so I did not have to stop the car on a hill the wrong way. Problem was I had several traffic lights and stops signs before getting home but if I got close I could park it and walk the rest of the way. So that left me with at least 3 traffic lights. Well the first on was not on a hill and the next two slightly possible. So I was coming to the traffic light and it was going red and no way did I wan to be be stuck at the light, so I pulled to the edge of the road and had to slow do a lot and had to stop. Once it changed I started the engine put it in gear and it moved a little and stalled, started it again while the car was moving and after about three stalls it kept running and I made it through that light and the next 2 and parked the car about a 1/2 mile from home and walked home. It took two or more days before that torque converted released and let me drive it normal. I learned of the electric connection for it and un-plugged it and ran it for a few month like that till I junked the car.

Just truly incredible…

That was EPIC 😮😮😮

this is just awesome to see something that sounds like a book or movie, in real life, wow just wow. 1 question though, what happened to the Eureka?

Sumpter valley 19 and 20 were originally built as wood fired and didn’t get converted to oil until serving the white pass I cannot imagine how hard it would have been to feed a narrow gauge mikado wood while hauling a freight train on 4% grades

I was at the cumbres and Toltec and rode the train on Thursday.

That’s an awesome story Mark can you share the one from the dinner train? Thanks man Jeff aka NW611J

Glenbrook is cool

Roll back and pick up the slack gradually? Been there, done that in RO before 😅 Holy *F^CK* Glenbrook probably did NOT know she could be work THAT hard. Please DO do a video on the dinner train incident

I was just in the BlackHills and the climb out of Hill City is 4-6% grades.

Out of all the operating steam locomotives, I bet that 1309 and 4014 have the worst wobbles when their drivers are out of sync

This once again makes me wonder how railroads determined the maximum tonnage a given engine could pull for a given route or in general.

I wish I could find little engines big men. That sounds like a great read

Ed Dickens sfs when?

I’ve had to do that with a geep and a sw1001 pulling garbage out of bushwick queens. Set a minimum, bunch the slack and let the old 101 go.

Hi guys

Are your hats/ ball caps still available?

Here’s a clip of NKP 765 doing exactly what Nick and Mark are talking about with the Glenbrook, rocking back and forth. The sound is just… *chefs kiss* amazing. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-WjEzExukNMs.htmlsi=8Q5XHoWg_CSaAp2a

Did anyone notice that hyce mentioned railroads online with out says how bad it is? And in a clam voice? Thats just different

Hyce. You're way too upbeat. I live in Los Angeles And I aspire to B as upbeat as you. Do you guys need some assistance or would like to hire? I am a welder, US Army vet welder, And would love for nothing more than 2 go to work at something. I love. Especially since I live in Los Angeles... Great video.

the thing that really gets me back to these stories is hearing the passion in your voice, it makes it so i feel i am almost there next to you watching the Glenbrook, even when i am halfway across the world. it really is something ells. thank you for sharing your stories.

Maybe rename the series to Stories from the Railroad?

it should be "Stories For The Shop" not "Stories From The Shop"

Trains smell the best. They smell better than fresh baked goods. Burning coal. Evaporating steam oil. Tantalising my nostrils.

the j

Hi Hyce and his Friends🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉😏😏😏😏🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐🐐I love goats 🐐🐐🐐🐐💯

22:00 Uhh... Holy smokes! That is simply an incredible display! A gorgeous, ornate 1875 wood-burner, rocking side to side like it's in a cartoon, with exhaust beat that sound like shotguns firing. Simply incredible. What a display of what these old engines could do.

14:41 "I'm giving her all she's got captain she cannae take anymore"

11:50, the moment where Glenbrook started shoving Eureka all the way to Alamosa

Not gonna lie, Cumbres & Toltec is the best place for any old classic steam locomotives like Glenbrook, 315, RGS 20, Eureka and etc. One day I'm might visit there this summer.

I love it, it's like an Edward's exploit type of situation.

A lot of people don't understand that these are built for this. Back then, someone clocked in and ran these with a heavy ass train for 10-12 hours a day. These were and still are iron workhorses.

Glenbrook really is the little engine that could, and by God, could I hear her through those religious barks "I think I can" and later "I know I can."

It’d be really interesting to see 491 or 20 try to pull that grade

I'm still a bit unclear on what happened to Eureka, so the blower pipe fell over, does that mean it just started dumping steam out of the boiler? I would've assumed the valve for the blower was in the cab, so the pipe breaking wouldn't do much unless you needed the blower, and I can't imagine she needed the blower particularly much working up that grade, did the loose pipe go and break something else? what am I missing here

Correction: Glenbrook was able to haul up an average of 6 loaded flatcars in her Tahoe days. Edit: not trying to downplay anyone's skills or actions. Just felt an impulsive need to bring that up. Fantastic video.