Real close, and fishing right out the back door, bait included!
Where the break happens can indicate how much the engineer had to do with causing it. Closer to the head end, the more likely the engineer did something. Not always, sometimes you can have knuckles that are defective, that’s why they ask the percentage of old vs. new break.
Jeff
Oh. I assumed since the 1st car was pulling all the others and so forth that up front would be the natural breaking point. Interesting!
So is the breaking of knuckles I guess is actulay enginnered in…to prevent what? a whole car from being torn in two?
My guess is because it is easier to replace a 75 lb knuckle than a 300 lb drawbar!
AS to closing the angle c o c k on the train while standing if you have not set at least a 15 lb reduction while sitting there youll get yelled at by the RFE or weed weasels. They like to come along and do that to make sure you have made a set. When you kick em off and fred doesnt say a word thats when you walk back with a couple fussee’s the air brake wrench and a couplin pin ( just in case)
As to special agents coming to help you all I can say is HA! They dont even get out of their cars along the BN at Western ave. So your up crap creek in a few places along our line.
Actually it seldom is the head car.
Before the BN started using rear end helpers between Belle Ayr and White Tail, Wyo the standard coal train was 106-110 cars. As the grade was 1.24% five units were required. The consist was any combo of U-30C’s and SD40-2’s which was in reality too much drawbar pull on the head end. If one of the GE would slip they would jerk just a tad ,and then usually a break-in-two would occur, always between the 5th thru 8th car from the head end. More often than not it would be a rotary drawbar failure rather than the F111 knuckle. Of course the rotary was on the rear of the car in the head one half of the train.
During my career the only break-in-two at the head car was a drawbar failure on the rear unit.
Whoops. Got in a hurry w/my typing and meant to add a lol on the end of the rapid responder comment. Rapid they are not. Anyone who is able to do so is best at fixing it themselves if they can do so.
When I was cndr had one knuckle. Was 50 cars back. Slowing down for a crew change, took too much air, kicked them off, reefed on them with 4 motors, Blufie goes the air. Take the crew van back to the break. Robbed a knuckle from the front of the front motor. Relieving cndr didn’t see the 2 or 3 spare knuckles on the power consist. Helped him change it out.
Different time, same engr, train dumps. Walk back. 75 cars back, the pinlifter bracket on the outside of the car broke. Pinlifter dragged until it caught something, pulled the pin.
One guy got a rotary type drawbar. 58 cars back. Herzog uses old rotary dump gons, rebuilt into ballast cars with automated doors. Had 5 big motors, kicked off the air and pulled too hard.
After reading some of the stuff on this thread, I shudder to think about what kind of condition America’s railroads would be in if every oldhead out there retired at the same time.
That’s the problem with todays new generation of railroaders, the first thing they want to do is get on that dadblame radio and start whinning for Mama! Go out there and learn your profession!
I will say this, the hardest thing about changing out a knuckle is getting that darn cotter pin out. It is usually bent about three different ways and when you try to cut it off with a chisel it won’t stay still. Other than that, a knuckle can be changed very easily by one person. You just have to know how to do it.
Maybe we should start calling an “non-linear rooster”.
Just write it as one word…anglecock.
Or even just pluralize it - angle cocks
Had a carmen call ( I know I know off topic) a switchman on a hostler crew to tell him that " Hey Gary you got a stiff anglecock there"! Ahh what things will make you laugh at 2 am. Anyhow…
Usually you would leave out the “angle” reference as well… [:-^][:D]