mountains

Vermont 21% has my name on it because it was a beautiful two laner and I was admiring the country all spaced out thinking of the purchasing of maple syrup pending in NH later that day. I hit the summit of this hill, saw nothing but sky on my bobtail hood stood up in my seat and realized with horror I am looking at a death grade at 60 mph coming off the top. Threw in the jake, forced it down a few gears down to 30 and rode the brakes and jake all the way down it's 3 miles. She smoked. I was scared of coming back up with a load. Because all I had was a tiny 350 cat.

So. I came back up alright. Took 3 hours for all the needles in the dashes (Plural... freightliner) to return to approx normal with a few showing that it was in pain here and there thermally speaking. Getting up was at less than walking pace in solid granny gear all the way up.

I did not handle that mountain very well that day.

I am not trying to imply that you or anyone was stupid regarding cabbage. Ive been away long enough to begin to lose my carefully memorized passes and what it takes to get through them in terms of gears, speeds etc.

You did coin a term that I find very endearing, if someone is running a hill, however big or small and it's TOO FAST to that someone... better rein it in quick.

As far as smoking, I have done that a number of times in trucks without jakes and rarely in those with jake. One was actually a milk truck pad that got stuck in the old 70's style tractor, trailer and whole rig braking set buttons (Three in total up front rather than the common red and yellow we all know today) anyhow the tractor one got stuck a little and that pad eventually caught flame. I called the Firehalls to come out while I fight it with a fire bottle. Two fire departments responded with 5 peices of equiptment and more importantly someone trained and equipped with maxi bolts that go into the burned brake chamber to remove the brake from that particular wheel until a shop can get to it. Used to be you carried a handful of these and a wrench big enough for the job. But it's not common today. They verified that yes the fire is out and once the bolt was installed, the rig was made safe with one less wheel set braking to continue and deliver. They think the viberation may have worked the tractor knob for parking halfway out due to age and it tripped at least one brake.

The other incidents of smoking I chalk up to learning on one hand and stupid on the other being young and fast. Too fast for some of the hills. Bethlehem PA comes to mind with that T intersection at the bottom next to a river of a grade to remember when you are leaving eastbound out of there.

At the end of the day, I chose mountain work as my personal specaility. It was discovered by my instructors that I had a fear of same in school and they made sure to pound it out of me. They created a monster instead. (The hitting and yelling would be considered assault or abuse today in some PC areas.. but instructors used whatever tools at hand to break you where necessary if you cannot break loose yourself.) And it has been my strong intention that when I talk about, with or learn about mountain with all of you here, I wish to teach those who do not know mountain work. And learn from those like yourself with speed tables and so on so I myself do not forget.

 

3 months into my trking exp. i like a typical greenhorn followed nav. on quallcom. think it was ft something in pa., came off the turnpike to pa. 533 i think down to us30. bout halfway up, its too late. got to top pulled over to take in signage. trks 20mph 9% grade. had a old pete mini cooper with 78,000. had to stop halfway down by runaway ramp. was not my kinda fun. now i map before i drive.

 

Gotta be real careful in PA, it can chop off your roof and throw you in a ditch real quick.

I discovered just 2 days ago, a nice little 11% on PA54 (Maybe PA901) somewhere between Danville and Pottsville. Fun little stretch. Repeated 8% grades, and then the nice little 11% thrown in. Didn't have to go that way, I was just bored. I'd probably run that one again.

 

Couple years back I was taking a short cut from North to south, forget the road but I was going along just fine until the detour. Not only were two of the three turns #### near impossible for a truck to make I went up a short little hill with 42k in the Box that hade downshifting all the way to 3rd,, and even then I wasn't sure I was going to make it.

Going over Allegheny Mountain was fun too. Johnstown to Bedford. I Understand why there is a tunnel through it LOL

 

If you really want fun, hop off near Altoona. There should be a ridge called Babcock Ridge nearby, throw in winter ice to cross. At the bottom features a 220 degree switchback turn that decreases in elevation about 150 feet in addition to a huge grade just prior to it Westbound upgrade you can get across and it's a little bit of a shortcut that is useful.

I realize that out of route things rule out such wonderful discoverys.

Allegheny tunnel on the pike is a favorite, if I remember right, there is a set of two abandoned tubes there not far upridge from there.

There is another set of tunnels that have you westbound going right off one of the larger mountains in the area, this one I forget the name but in winter that particular hill is a load of fun.

322 is my personal favorite to get to and from 80. 15 to Milesburg is a close second.

From time to time Ive wondered how much PA has been restricting truck traffic these days, it seemed like a total freedom in my time running about as long you did not run off the hill or curve and hit people's stuff and houses.

 

It's all good bro. We rant and rave on this silly forum, and lots of times our words aren't perfect, and sometimes *I* say something stupid, even though I'm mister super-trucker who NEVER does anything stupid

But as for mountains, SLOW is good. ALWAYS. A wise man when I was first starting reminded me that you can go down a hill too slow 10,000 times and be fine, but you only get to go down too fast ONCE.

I go down he Western passes all winter long, and I drive like a little old lady when there's even a CHANCE of ice. In the summer, I drive those passes like Mario Andretti, but I also know my limits and the limits of my load.

Eastern passes, with much lower elevations are probably more dangerous, because the grades are 7-9%,+ not 6%. So they're easier to misjudge. And you've always got some flat-lander noob deciding tht the speed limit was merely a suggestion on his first actual grade. (This is the guy you have to stop to make sure he's alive in the ditch).

 

I find the eastern mountain grades off the interstates are often not very well signed. Might just be the downgrade sign with no %, might not be one at all. Sometimes no signs saying safe speed or where the curves will be going down.

I have been fortunate enough to run similar routes for the bulk of my career, so it is pretty rare I get somewhere that makes me pucker up. One early mistake was us-30 in pa between breezewood pa and Chambersburg pa with a broken jake brake switch and a heavy load of produce. Took that baby mostly in 1st gear and used the fan override as a jake brake... fortunately there were pull off places I could let the cars behind be go by. Never again. Sure looks like some folks up there have some nice property and mountain views though lol

 

That

That's an EASY grade if you have everything working. But no jakes? Um, Holy Heck that would be nasty. That particular stretch of road is a 15 MPH grade, as I recall.

 

Any time I am driving unfamiliar hills I err on the side of caution. I also set my truck GPS to be able to see 2 miles ahead. I am used to gauging the turn speeds according to the radius on the display. When I see a road that looks like it was drawn by a person with palsy, it's time to slow down.

Forget what other drivers are doing, drive within your own limits and the limits of your equipment and your load. The same hill can be a totally different experience depending on your load. I saw a flatbedder carrying a load of Hazmat totes nearly overturn on a notorious corner in southeast Oklahoma on a NARROW two lane county road, it doesn't bank into the curve, it banks outside the curve and features a 30' drop to a creek with no guard rail.

Take it easy out there.

 

Yea it was when I had a delivery in greencastle and didn't see the point in taking 70 over to 81 and back up. It says not recommended, it doesn't say do not do it. So, why not, right? That was a mistake. 9 and 10 % the whole way. 5 mph at best. Appointment time be darned. I think the switch broke just as I got into that hill.