ON THE COVER
A four unit Southenr Railway Diesel-electric locomotive leaves Melrose, N. C., with a 2,000 ton train adn starts one fo the toughest motive powers assigments in American railroading - the climb up Saluda Mountain and its 4.7 percent grade, steepest main-line grade on any railroad in the country. The day is grey and sullen, mist shrouds the valley and the rails are slick with rain. But, about 16 minutes later the train was over the mountain and in the town of Saluda - 605 feet higher in elevation than the starting point shown here.
