Steep Downhill and you need to downshift

I can tell you some crazy stories about bad experiences I had from learning the hard way on my own. We're talking back in 1980 when I started and it was a whole different world and qualifying rules then.

 

Here's the keys and a hand shake, call me when your unloaded.

 

I'm sure some will recognize where this is.
I have a 15613 transmission and started down in 5th, but had to drop back into 4th for my own piece of mind. Jakes did 98% of the work. Grossing 74,800.

 

US322 going down into Milroy?

 

Sorry sir.

You can hold true to what you think best and I respect you for it.

There is a hill of about 3 miles 21 to 24% straight down in vermont in the NW part of the state near canada, about 8 miles south of there.

I come off that hill on bobtail at 65 round a curve, passed a yellow diamond that said downgrade. Pffth nothing to it. Come off the top all I saw was sky and hood. She started running away. I spend about a minute to two minutes as my speedo wound to the bottom wondering why in the world am I running away in a BOBTAIL..... so that thought process had alot or too much WTF in it.

I thumbed and fat fingered the jakes on three and mashed the service brake until the air alarm howled and knocked it back down to 60 by then Im halfway down the #### thing, passing a log truck coming up at less than walking pace. Hazing off my wheels. He laughed and laughed on the radio. Nothing needed to be said.

I spent that afternoon contemplating the hardwood furnature load that is close to 50,000 pounds that will have to be lifted over that hill southbound from Ethan Allan.

 

YAY My hill.

Ive been on smaller hills in school. But my trainer made sure that I did this one without a jake (We had none...) and 3 feet of powder snow too. That was my graduation test that one day.

 

Yes Sir you are correct! I stopped at the Tom's truck stop in Milroy, that's where I seen this....

 

I'm pretty sure that is in PA. There's a place called 7 Mountains off that stretch. You can see what looks like highway 322 marked on the map sign.

 

Yes Sir that's correct. Only about 3 miles or so long but deserves the same respect as a 20 mile hill.