Thanks for the clarification Leo...Now as to my own experience...it's nowhere
near yours....In my short three summer experience I participated in a few
conventional drops...I was never entrusted with handling the switch...I was
usually the rider---pin puller and hand brake handler. IIRC the conductor
normally handled the switch.
It was on my first drop...made summer 1956 on the Hastings-Huntley (NE) local
with the 9769 (motorcar) as power...It was there I learned from the old head
rear brakeman how to give a "head" sign and/or a "foot" sign. These being
necessary when you've got one hand on the pin lifter, are hanging onto the grab
iron with the other hand...leaves no other appendages available for signaling.
Seems like in most cases the old head hogheads knew about how fast to go and
when to "give you the slack" so you could get the pin. Just had to give a nod
of the head or a "go ahead" with the foot to let him know you had it and then
to get away from you.
One time we dropped about 10 mty stockcars into the elevator track at Clay
Center, NE. They apparently had been sent there for storage. We had to back
up a long ways to get up enough momentum since the 9769 was not exactly a
powerhouse. They didn't trust me with the pin that time...I had to ride the
rear end back and cut off the waycar, then ride the rear of the cut into the
siding and wind up the old stem winder hand brake to get em stopped.
We never had any difficulty with the drops and IIRC I think I made a perfect
spot or two as you related...In those days you always looked for a "good Ajax
brake" which was very effective. I liked the ones with the clutch arrangement
better than those with the notched wheel and pawl arrangement. There were
still quite a few of the old stem winders around though..on some of the old
cars used for merchandise loading and stock cars...Trying to set a hand brake
on a flatcar was a real challenge. A brake club would have been handy, but I
only read about those....never used one.
Pete
-----Original Message-----
From: qutlx1@aol.com
To: cbq@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Mon, Feb 15, 2010 9:36 pm
Subject: [CBQ] Dutch Drop
Pete,
I'm not sure but I think the tractor rescue story is one of Karls. Other
than my just told incident at Hinckley the other close call was at
Milledgeville on another day when Bob Harding had to get the car "mover" out of
the
nose of the Geep as we couldnt get an mty fertz car to roll after we set it
out on the siding.
Bob never went to work on the "around the horn job" w/o his car mover and
the chicken feed buckets..
I always wondered why in the name of safety the job wasnt run the other way
around so one had trailing point switches.
Leo
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