Well, others have covered the retainers and hand brakes very well! But there
is more on hand brakes. Yes, hand brakes can be tied down so tight as to
cause wheels to slide, which in short order will cause flat spots. Typically
this happens when cars are shoved into customer spots and it is convenient
for one reason or another to tie the brake down on the way in (tight
clearance, time savings, warm up and tighten the brake,etc).What many in the
industry don't understand is that per the AAR Field Manual of Interchange
Rules this damage is chargeable to the carrier by the car owner (over 50% of
cars are now privately owned and increasing).My staff collects for damaged
wheel sets on a regular basis at $1,200 a pop. Another wonder only known to
those who have spent time on the full scale railroads is the amazing effect
of grass. no, the kind that grows along the ties. When operating on grain
elevator tracks that are often overgrown crushing the grass(weeds) produces
this slimy mess that does 2 very strange things. On the cars with hand brakes
set seem to magically immediately tighten and the wheels slide because the
brake shoes grab so tight. But at the same time when you try and spot that
car w/o a brake set the engine just can't stop on the stuff and even sand
only helps modestly.
One method of tying a car down other than handbrakes hasn't been discussed.
After climbing up and down several ladders (in the days before the no roof
walks rules took effect and brakes were high mounted) it didn't take long for
a brakeman to look for a short cut on the next car that was spotted at a
customers door. Ever wonder why there's so much chewed up lumber around
spurs,sidings,stub and yard tracks? Yup old pieces (some very small) of
lumber when jammed under wheels on the downhill side work like handbrakes w/
a whole lot effort on the part of the brakie.In fact once under a wheel and
the car rolls against the "block" a little you can't pull the chock until you
push the car back off the block.
Leo Phillipp
|