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Sanders were integral to smooth operation, especially in the days of less sophisticated locomotive wheelslip systems. Sometimes sanders malfunctioned & depending on where one was, probelms ensued. The first trick was to pound on the hose leading to the sand spout, with a hammer or wrench. That often broke up wet sand. At some locations, sand came in plastic bags where more elaborate facilities didn’t exist. One time I was with my hogger preparing to leave the shop at Agincourt with 3 C&O GP-30s. The sanders were checked & didn’t work. Shop staff arrived & it was discovered that someone put the empty bags into the sand “locker” along with the sand. The bags had jammed in the chute leading to the pipe. Staff spent a half an hour using various “implements” to pick the bags out of the sand locker. Then the sand worked. Crappy power & a train with full tonnage rating for said power, leads to a trip made much worse by no sand.
I could almost write a short story just describing trips that involved sanding failures.