I hadn't read Gerald's comments on "getting on and off" before I wrote my
previous response, but his mention of the curved handrail on the waycar made be
think of the "bane of getting on and off"...the flatcar or the tank car...
These cars had the grab irons very low and you had no place to reach up to to
swing yourself on....It was quite hazardous and difficult to board a moving
flatcar or most tank cars while they were moving.
Another prohibition, even in the diesel era, was the practice of standing on
the ties in front of a moving engine and steppin up on he leading
footboard....I never tried that stunt, not did I ever seen anyone else do it,
but the old
RAILROAD MAGAZINES had many accounts of old time switchmen who made that a
practice and then, of course, there were the accounts of the "new hire" who
tried
it and missed with nearly always fatal results.
Pete
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