I wont give location to prevent silliness, but today I found a string of cars in a yard connected to a portable air compresor, which was running full out. Why would you want a string of cars, in a yard, under air pressure? Wouldn"t all the brakes be released? Thanks for replies.
Not silly at all. Sometimes you need to pull a cut of cars out without taking the time to pump them up. Saves crew time and track time for the train if the cars are already under air. But it has to be under controlled conditions like you’ve described; you cannot effectively nor safely, normally, leave a string of cars off on a siding and leave the air on.
Yes. They are normally released on cars that are sitting w/o being on air, too, if they have been bled or the air has leaked off. You can never count on the air when the cars on not in a train. This is what hand brakes are for.
You are looking at a train, ready for or just haveing had it’s initial terminal air test.
You can air up a track, walk the air test, do your inspection, bust the air to set the brakes, check the cars, then do a release all from ground air.
Most big yards have a complex piping system with air hoses at the ends of their departure tracks, so the car department can have all the outbound trains tested and ready to go…you leave the air pumping because the rules say if the cars have been “off air” for more that 4 hours, a new initial terminal air test must be performed.
My guess is there will be a locomotive or train picking these cars up sometime that same day, and a roving car man or utility man already did the initial air test, all the crew will have to do is a set and release test and head out with it.
The air tests need to be made with the locomotive attached, in order to check the functionality of the EOT. But yard air is still a good idea, as it saves a great deal of time and diesel fuel spent in pumping the air with the locomotives. The air pressure is not as high as it will be when the train is being tested. In fact, air is usually connected when the car department is doing their inspection (that ensures that hoses are made properly and no major leaks).
Our yard air is set at 90psi, all the crews do is double up their tracks, hang and arm the EOT, the car department gets a set and release and away we go.
Not true, a No.1 air test can be performed without the locomotives attatched. The carmen have a device with air guages that allows them to make a set up, release and dump the air. The road crew ties the engines on, hangs and tests the SBU. When we get on a train, the brake tests are done, all we have to do is an SBU test after tying on the engines and doubling the train together. Normally the carman is at the tail end to do the SBU test so the conductor can get on the head end.
All depends what rules you work under, I guess.
I may not know my brake rules as well as Ed, who works pretty much under the same rules as I, but deals with them every day. This doesn’t bode well for me on my next rules test. Uhh…maybe I should retire before the next test.
My carriers routine Book of Rules test doesn’t cover the Power Brake Law and it’s attendent rule. Maybe for engineers recertification that is covered, but not for routine employees that are covered by the Book of Rules.
Ahh but soon conductors will have to be certified as well. On UP, Air Brake is part of your book of rules, thus, on the test. We spent a half day on the mock up at West Chicago learning about air brake, and the basics. We were tested on it for the Conductor promotion. And had a class with the new FRA rules dealing with the Class 1a test, ect. I cannot see how a conductor doesn’t know about it.
No, what is silly is your understanding of rules.
Sorry Hank, before you pull that cut of cars, you need to verify brake pipe continuity. Not the carman, but the train crew. Anything less is poor operating practices, and probably a violation of FRA and carrier rules.
I suggest you read Rule 32.1.1 and get back to me. You cannot possibly work for a Railroad and not understand.
Here’s the problem with that. The cars are on air, so you can’t really pull them without putting the trainline into them. The only way you could do that would be to bottle the air on the cars. That is against all rules and is the fastest way to get you in trouble.
I guess you could dump the air on the cars, but now you are going to have a real tough time moving them. Third, I guess you could bleed the cars, but that kind of defeats the purpose of having them on air to begin with, no?
And I’ve left plenty of cars and trains on a ground line, including entire coal trains. You first secure the cars, test the handbrake effectiveness, then you cut away, put them on the ground line (sometimes leaving the airslip there at the discretion of whomever is in charge) and then you can go bye-bye with the engines, or shut them down to conserve fuel. Nothing unsafe about that in the least, and quite a normal practice.
And like RRKen pointed out, you still need to do your continuity test before leaving the initial terminal, either through the marker, or by actually watching the piston. (Again, we’re allowed to go by the marker, other roads/divisions may not).
Groundlines (yard air) are a real time saver. It allows car inspectors to do the class-1 test before a crew is ready to pull the train, and it can allow cars to be left sitting somewhere to be picked up without the need for the crew picking them up to do a full blown class 1 air test.
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While bleeding off of the cars should not constitute a void of the Class 1 air test, I agree, it is time consuming and wasteful in such a situation as given. I have never worked with yard air per se, but overall, you can couple onto a cut of cars that have yard air on them, if the air is at the opposite side of the cut. A brake pipe reduction of 10 pounds can be made, and locomotive brake pipe cut in. This is a common procedure when handing off cars between crews. This kind of process is worth it’s weight in gold if you work in very cold climes such as North Iowa (you NEVER-EVER dump the air in such places, or you may never get the brake pipe to pump up again).
The same as coupling up to help shove a train (Make a reduction, and cut out the automatic brake valve before opening the anglecocks. I usually announce this has happened to the head end hoghead before the brake pipe is cut in. A set and release is made from the head end to ensure the rear unit responds.).
Same concept and results. To those terminals who have carmen, it is a blessing not to shuttle between ends.
Yard air is your friend…
Yard air, as stated above, allows mechanical forces to preform your Class I brake test without a locomotive attached. It also allows you to set a block of cars off for another train to pick up, without the need to preform a Class I on them. Remember any car “off air” for more then 4 hours requires a Class I test.
Prior to putting car on ground air, a sufficent number of hand brakes must be set and tested, before the locomotive cuts away. The air brakes on standing cars will eventually bleed off anyway. And without hand brakes…they have an annoying tendency to roll away.
Generally, when picking up a train on ground air, I close the cocks on both the car and hose. Bleed and remove said hose, and crack the anglecock to apply the air brakes (I try to a 10 to 20 pound reduction, but without a gauge it’s just a guesstimate). Next close said anglecock to save the rest of the air. Then we couple up, turn the air in, and knock the brakes off. The only time I dump the air, is when I know the cars are overcharged…we have certain compressors that routinely overcharge the brake pipe.
Prior to departing the initial terminal, or after setting off or picking up cars, the train crew must preform a Class III brake test. If the crew is doing the Class I, the Class III can be done in conjunction with it. If the cars were previously tested, the crew will need to do a separate Class III. Under the Power Brake Law it is permissible to use Qualified Two Way Telemetry to preform your Class III. If you are at a location with mechanical forces, a carman may also assist with the Class III.
Nick