The worker you saw doing something to the next car to be uncoupled is probably working the cut bar on the car’s coupler. The train backs the car to be uncoupled over the hump, pulls forward, which causes the coupler to disengage (since the cut bar has already been pulled), and causes the uncoupled car to roll down the hump due to gravity. And on its way down the hump the rolling car would be directed by pre-set turnouts to its destination track and slowed to the proper speed by retarders on the track.
And yes, the cars with the (heh) “Do Not Hump” signs means they shouldn’t be put through the hump yard and should be manually shunted with a switcher engine.
Doesn’t have to be a hump yard. They do the same thing on the flat - uncouple the car, shove toward where they want it to go and “kick” the car into the track where they want it.
Well it is slightly more complicated than that but not much. Air in the airlines holds the brakes off so the car can roll. If the airline is broken the car or train goes into emergency braking ( in spite of every runaway train movie Hollywood has ever produced). In order for the cars to roll the shut off valve on both ends of the car(s) have to be closed. That is probably whatyou saw him doing at the last car. The he needs to go to the other end of the car(s) and do the same thing. the air hoses are designed so when the cars are parted they are pulled in a way that allows them to uncouple and relase just the air in the hoses. In order for the coupler pin to be pulled as a general rule of thumb you can’t do it when the couplers are in tension. so when the train is being pushed the person can lift the bar that connects to the coupler pin releasing the coupler and the cars can roll to their destination. Before moving the train someone has to walk the string of cars connecting the airhoses and opening the shut off valves.
You were watching cars either being humped in a hump yard or kicked in a flat yard.
From the way you discribe it, it’s probably a flat yard. Very few hump yards have manually operated switches, and no hump crew worth their salt would have to pull back over the hump after letting a car go.
It goes like this:
Line switch
Give the engineer the kick sign
When the slack runs in, pull the pin (uncoupling lever)
4… When the car has ehough speed, tell the engineer to stop and pull over the next switch, if needed
Line the next switch and repeat.
If you did it right the car sails into the track and couples up. If not the car stalls somewhere, and if you really messed up, the car stalls and then rolls back at you. Kicking cars is really an art. You have to process:
The weight and type of the car - empties are easier to start and stop, but loads roll better downgrade; and some types of cars roll better then others - tanks roll best, then boxcars, and gondolas usually roll the worst.
Grade and curvature of track - it takes more umph to get a car up hill and through a curve.
Weather conditions - cars roll better in the rain, or when it’s hot. Wind speed and direction can accellerate or retard a cars forward motion, especially hi-cube boxcars and hoppers.
The process NBDPRR is referring to is called “bottling the air” and it is frowned upon, because it’s dangerous. At least on CSX, it is a major rules violation. If you bottle the air on a cut of cars, the air can bleed off, releasing the brakes and cars can roll away. When it’s used in switching, you are leaving a trap for the next man. He comes alone, opens the angle cock (valve on the br
Guys,A brakemen/conductor can use the bleeder valve to bleed the air off before shoving the car over the hump-this is far faster then shutting off each air valve on each end of the car and allows the angle valve to remain open.Recall a carman will need to connect each air hose thus its better to bleed the air on the car…Retarders on the hump’s slope applies the needed braking for the car to roll into the hump bowl and still make a low impact joint.Of course a high impact joint happens from time to time.
Nick I can vouch for the air hose swinging around and hitting you…It happen to me several times when I was a brakeman…Its one of the little known hazards of railroadin’.[:D]
Alright, from what you guys have said, it sounds like he was “kicking” the cars, as it was not a hump yard (I’m about 80% sure).
What surprised me is the guy on the ground only seemed to be messing with the very end of the train, almost like he’d uncouple both couplers on a car from one end. Is that possible?
My other question is: How do you “shove” an uncoupled car? In MRR’ing terms, you do this with a magnetically opened Kadee coupler. How do real trains do it?
Actually closing the coupler and then pushing the car would not be done.You see one coupler must be open for the cars to couple when kicked into a cut of cars…Of course with both couplers close the cars can not make the joint…Are you sure there was only one man on the ground instead of two?
Not if you are going to push the car with closed couplers…If one coupler is open when you start pushing the car the couplers will make the joint.Now pushing a cut of cars in this fashion means EACH coupler will be CLOSED so they will not couple.
Again, as with bottling the air, this manuver, called shoving butted knuckles, is frowned upon, and in some cases outright illegal, as it is destructive to the draft gear. It also puts unequal stresses on the car that can cause derailments.
As long as the slack stays bunched, and there are no jarring movements to the car, once the uncoupling lever is lifted, pin will stay up. When the train stops, the cars’s momentum will carry the car on it’s way, and finishing opening the knuckle.
When I worked for the S.P. in Roseville,Cal. we used to that all the time,Pull the pin,Nutrualize brakes ,let know slack in the couplers push down the track,ease of on the throuttle and let her go!!And yes Brakkie the air house will get you!
Darn right the air hose will get you. I’ve seen railroad employees recieve up to moderate injuries from this practice. As I understand it, some railroads allow it while others do not. As stated above, it is destructive to the draft gear of the cars involved. I’ve seen couples get busted, several times, because cars came together too hard.