In an old Trains Magazine, I was reading an article about railyards and switching. Around here, all switching is done with a switchman riding the car and getting off to do the groundwork. So, kicking cars is quite foreign to me. If I understood the article correctly, it sound like some poor devil has to walk(run) beside a car, holding up a lever(?), until the train hits the right speed. Then,he signals the engineer, who brakes the locomotive, causing the car to come uncoupled. At that point, the switchman can let go of the lever(?). What am I misunderstanding here? Wouldn’t every switchman have to be an olympic triathlete? Can someone shed some light on this for me? Thanks
Murph - That’s pretty much how flat switching works. You bleed the cars off to release the brakes, then you loco pulls out a track and you begin switching. Depending upon the yard and your comfort level you may ride a car back in each track and tie a handbrake on it before you begin kicking cars into the tracks you are using to classify cars. But you do run along side the cars and another crew member will usually line up your tracks for whatever you are kicking. Then you tell the engineer by radio or handsignal to give a kick and he widens the throttle as he deems necessary. You run alongside dodging switchstands holding the cutting lever up and tell the engineer to stop when you are going fast enough. The car rolls free into its track, you back up, your switchman lines you up for the next car (you both have a switchlist so he knows what will go where too) and you repeat the process until you have switched your cars or until the end of your shift.
Holy Cow![:O] How fast are they going when they kick a car,and how far does that poor guy have to run?.
I have seen then on the steps of either car but not jogging.
On my old Magma excursions back in the 90s, the crew would have the engineer accelerate the cars to be kicked to about 5MPH. Go too fast, and you have a collision that could result in a car or two going onto the ground, or a broken knuckle - too slow and the car never makes it to its intended destination. The real fun comes with “dropping” cars - its like kicking only the locomotive is ahead of the cars to be moved and not behind. In that case, you’re hoping not to become “frogged” by a car stopping partially through the switch!
that artical just about sums it all up, but the only time you realy need to run along side the car holding the cut leaver up is if the pin wont stay up…or if the engineer isnt a good kicker and bangs the cars around to much to make the pin fall once you get it up… most of the time…you just reach in…grab the leaver… lift…and let it fly…
csx engineer
Thats how I’ve seen it usually go down. If those boys did that much jogging there would be alot more skinny brakemen. LOL
Hey, I resemble that skinny remark!
CSX engineer has it for you…the pin, or locking device that keeps the knuckle pin locked in the closed or down position is designed that, once you get some slack bunched up between the cars, you can lift the pin, or cut lever, and it will un lock the knuckles, and most of the time stay up or unlocked.
If the engineer doesn’t keep a steady push(kick) on the cars, or you have a boxcar or two with hydra cushion draft gear, and the slack action jumps back and forth, the pin will get knocked down.
In essence, the cars couple back into each other…then you get to run along side and hold the pin lever up.
Our rules say max kicking speed is 4 mph…But that’s also the coupling speed restriction for auto racks…we go faster, or slower, depending on what we are trying to accomplish.
You set bumper cars, as Character said, in the empty tracks, and start kicking.
You learn to judge the cars by load or empty, hopper, tank or flat, as to how hard or soft to kick them.
And a lot depends on the content of the car…most flammable gas in tank cars, max you can let roll free at a time is two.
Some tank cars, due to the contents, have to be shoved to the joint, you can not kick them at all.
Loaded autoracks, gondolas with pipe loaded above the top, and most shiftable high value loads are shoved to the joint
Got a few gaps in the track?
Find a covered hopper or two loaded with plastic pellets, and give them a really good hard kick…gaps gone!
Got a car with one of those really long, floppy drawbars?
You float it down in case the drawbar flops to one side and it by passes the coupler of the car you are kicking against.
On of the first things you are taught in your training class is, when working in a yard, to open every closed knuckle you find…so the cars kicked or humped into that track will make all the joints, or couple up the cars…saves someone having to walk the
So which car is yours, Ed?[}:)]
I didn’t point any fingers or name any names but we both know some of them boys have built a right good size shed to keep the rain off their tools. LOL Present company excluded. They did not get that way by jogging at work. [:O] [swg] [(-D]
Brian,
Mine is not there, I left already.
I think the shot was around 2pm or so…usualy we have finished up and scooted by 1 to 1:30.
The MU is parked on the lead, the long track that curves down and to the right.
You can see the roof of one locomotive is painted white.
Far right, next to the big empty looking dirt “lot” is our receiving yard, six tracks, the longest hold 130 if we dont cut the little crossing.
The empty lot is really a raised dirt dump, it is made up of the dredge from the ship channel, scroll straight down and you can see the turning basin of the Houston Ship Channel and the city docks.
Look around the yard tracks, you can find some Cat machinery, bulldozers on flats, and in the receiving yard, a bunch of green John Deere combines on flats.
See if you can find the big red KLR heavy duty flat car, articulated ends, with four trucks, eight axles.
rrandb, we both know about engineers spread…the longer they sit on the seat box, the more they spread out…most of ours cant look down and see their toes with out having to suck a gut!
And they got it made up there, all our motors have A/C and iceboxs…they get up there with their lunch coolers and start in eating.
Bout the only time they come down is when we are done for the day.
Ed
Can you imagion Charlie Brown doing this job?[;)]
Or Lucy lining switches for him?
Ed
I may have gotten engineers confused with brakeman. I appoligise!!!
Ed:
Thanks for the tour.
Do you know what the costs are to “yard” a car?
In other words, what does your company figure it costs to handle a single car to be classified?
If I were guessing, I would think $75/per car with all the fixed costs associated.
ed
Here at BNSF’s 28th Street Yard, they kick cars really hard. Like 5-8 mph. Nothing makes you pay attetion more than getting the p*** scared out of you when a car gets kicked, (and coupled) right BEHIND you!!
http://www.trainweb.org/southwestshorts/ptra.html
http://www.railcarmgt.com/sub2/media/downloads/cs_ptra.pdf
When the server comes back up…I will get you the tariff and switching fees…
Ed
Or look here…again, the server seems to be kaput right now…
http://www.google.com/search?q=Port+Terminal+Railroad+Association+switching+fees&hl=en&lr=&start=0&sa=N
It sounds like, if the engineer does it right, the switchman only has to lift the lever, and not run alongside. If an engineer and switchman do this every day, they’d probably get very good at it.
Would someone have to walk the train beforehand and close the angle co-cks (where appropriate) and bleed the air? Or is this done for for every cut as the cuts are kicked? That’s got to be asking a lot of the power (brake wise) on those 50+ car cuts with the air cut out…
Since Google maps doesn’t work on my version of MacOS, I used zillow.com, which has satellite pictures and home prices overlaid on the images. The yard is interesting, to say the least. Then I swooped around Houston. Needless to say, being in Southern California, the prices in the Houston area are astounding. Or maybe it’s our prices that are astounding.
Of course, I’m not ready to pull up stakes and move there yet.