NF&D Alco RS-36 No. 2 was fresh in off a run from Danville when it was being serviced at Lawrenceville, VA on March 26, 1977. The locomotive sanding operation on the NF&D was an exercise in physical labor. Sand was delivered "wet" in low side gondolas. It was shoveled by hand onto a conveyor and transported to a holding area by the sand house. Then, it was shoveled by hand into a coal fired drying stove, where the sand was dried. As it dried, it fell out of the sides of the stove. Finally, the dried sand was shoveled by hand into a tank that used the locomotive air to propel it into the locomotive. Anyone that has ever experienced a Southside Virginia summer can attest that there would be far better places to be, than drying sand in the sand house at Lawrenceville.
