SMOKIN on Fancy Gap

I run down Fancy Gap in 9th gear at 45MPH with the jake on and hitting the hand brake at 50. Repeating all the way down. My truck always has the check engine light on when going down with the RPM at 1700.

 

What part of PA-54? I live near a hill we locals call the "Vulcan". It is at the I-81/PA-54 interchange in Schuylkill County.

There are some grades in PA, like this one off the Delano exit on I-81, that are slightly more than 10%!

 

Ohio and west virgina have some hills that will make some experienced drivers nervous, right down on the panhandle around wheeling and off some side roads in ohio, alot of the hill's arent a matter of straight down, alot of switch backs and sharp curves.

 

Logan, ever been on Number 2 Ridge Rd. off of Dallas Pike, was on that a few weeks back and it's no joke? Like you said, it's steep, but it's got ridiculous curves on it too.

 

If you haven't had the crap scared out of you out West on grades, then you haven't run the steep hills...

Next time, roll off the big road and hit the secondaries, there will be some you wouldn't believe.

Even so, Pennsylvania is nasty, have a buddy who does heavy haul in that region, I have no care to...

 

this is a problem everywhere. In the last two days I've seen 3 rollovers from drivers going too fast on curves/hills. Stepdeck loaded with lumber rolled on US 50 this morning destroyed a very nice looking Pete and twisted the hell out of the stepdeck he was pulling. Several witnesses to the wreck, all said he was going too fast before hitting the curve, blocked the road for over an hour while they got it on it's wheels. Another one lost it coming off McClure heading into Carbondale, supposedly that one was a fatal that took out some innocents as well.

The usual suspects have lost so many trucks on Wolf Creek in the last two months (5 in the last two weeks for that matter) that CSP is now cracking down on everyone WB. 35/25 mph limits are being strictly enforced. Rolled through there Monday around lunch time, two troopers watching the WB downhill, one about half way, the other below the scenic overlook hairpin. The highway and concrete barriers are now all kinds of pretty colors from all the rollovers lately.

 

Yeah, that is a pretty view, isn't it? I ran up that road every Sunday night, and down every Friday night/Saturday morning for six months. Never had an issue, but then I had no intention of getting to the bottom of that hill too quickly. Many MANY drivers blew my doors off going down that mountain, especially in the thick fog. Never could quite understand that.

 

you can go down a hill slow EVERY TRIP, or you can go down a hill once to fast! i opt for the first option!

 

72 hr cdl schools dont teach saftey

 

The last time I came down through FancyGap, I was grossing 98k. I passed a bobtail. A pickup truck pulled in front of me and slammed on his brakes. The bobtail shouts a warning to me about that pickup truck did the same thing to him. I pull over into the right lane and back off. An SUV tried to pass the pickup on the right and the pickup truck cut hard right and ran the SUV onto the shoulder. He then matched speed with a parkinglot and wouldnt let anyone pass.

There was a fullgrown sitting in the middle at the 13. I got on the radio, "Smokey, do you see this white pickup going south in the hammerlane? He's brakechecking people and running 4wheelers off the road if they try to pass him."

"The white Chevy with PA tags?"

Yessir.

"10-4."

The pickup took off. Smokey gave chase. Backup waited ahead. They cornered him at the bottom of the mountain. That SUV pulled over to talk to the Bears. I asked Smokey did he need me, and Smokey said, "No, we have enough."

Hats off to the Virginia HP for still running their radios.