HOT STUFF

       About the time you think the discussion is over......you find out it isn't.

       Tom Hokel, BHS-65, has provided additional information about the heat in the Iranian desert. His source is a document by HistoryNet.

        This discussion began when Robert Atherton, BHS-36, who spent a four-year stint in Iran in military service during World War II, said something about, "guys working in heat that hit 170 degrees and even better in the sun." That descriptive quote came from a publication, the U.S. Weekly.

         Jim Pratt, BHS-71, chimed in that the highest temperture ever recorded, worldwide, was the 134 degree mark in Death Valley California on July of 1913. Second place went to a location in Tunisia. That figure was supported by Wikipedia and others.

         Following is a portion of the new info Hokel discovered via HistoryNet.

         Summer shade temperatures in southern Iran regularly surpassed 120F to 130F with historical weather stations recording extreme highs near 168F. Metal bodies of locomotive absorbed the desert sun, turning the cab structure into a literal oven before the engine was even fired up.

        The massive uninsulated steel wall of the boiler inside the cab radiated intense, constant heat directly at the engineer and fireman. Every time the fire door was opened to shovel coal or adjust oil-firing, a blast of heat reaching over 2,000F hit the crew directly.

         While moving at speed created a breeze through the open cab windows, crawling up steep desert grades meant slow speeds, trapping stagnant, superheated air inside the workspace.

         The heat was so debilitating for Allied train crews along the Trans-Iranian Railway that military authorities largely shifted heavy train runs to nightime hours to prevent heatstroke and equipment failures.

         Tom concluded, "ya, our WWII soldiers were some tough cookies."

        P.S. He added, "I worked five summers at Percival Manufacturing in the "Plant Growth" section on the sides of the main assembly line. A few times, my workstation was near the end of the oven opening, where refrigeration sides and panels were sprayed and baked. One afternoon my boss came over and showed me a temperature gauge.....it read 135F. I don't know how we worked in those temperatures.." 

        Loren Frazier, BHS-58, summarized this entire discussion pretty well. He said, "not that it matters, but when its hot, its hot."

K-----K

        Regarding our recent blurb about AM radio, Vern (BHS-50) wrote, "thanks for keeping the AM radio situation alive. I hope you have stirred others to be aware of the circumstances too. On the financial side, I'd hope thinking about it will stir our less vocal and active friends into action. On the local side, that means to support their "home town" stations by feedback to advertisers who support its very existence. I'd hope too that attention would stimulate station owners to see to more aggressive programming (and pay) which could lead them back to those Golden Days of AM radio when The Shadow knew what to do."

K-----K 

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