Louis - Not an expert on CBQ practices but most likely the basic
whistle signals would be the same as anywhere else - 3 short to
back, 2 long to proceed, 1 short for stop, 4 short a call for
signals, and so on as described in the Book Of Rules. Any signals
specific to a particular location would be noted in the Employee
Timetable. An example of such, although not CBQ, was a location on
the NYC where a swing bridge was often lined for ship traffic while
the train was switching in a nearby yard. When the bridge was
needed for the railroad, the engineer would sound
long-short-short-long to signal the bridge tender.
It is possible there were unofficial whistle signals agreed upon by
the crews at some location or other - your only source for that info
would be someone who actually worked there.
DRB
August 24, 2017
Group - Was West Burlington Hill the only regularly
assigned helper district on Lines East during the steam
era? Does anyone know what the steam whistle signals
were such as go ahead, back off, stop..... Best Regards
- Louis
Louis Zadnichek II
Fairhope, AL
I've done some of that stuff. One afternoon, I
shoved a freight train over Newcastle with my
'hopper' without cutting off, or 'cutting in'.
Like you say, it could have been messy, but
wasn't, he really didn't take much shoving. I've
had the Belle Ayr helps cut off on the fly with
the crew on the waycar, and no air cut in.
Sometimes they weren't even coupled, just pushing
against closed knuckles.
If you helped another train on the road, it
paid time or miles, whichever was greater, with a
minimum of two hours (25 miles). The time started
when you were notified by the Dispatcher that you
would have to cut off to shove them, and ended
when your train was moving again. The miles were
counted from where you cut off to where you cut
off the train you were shoving, and back again.
In reference to the original question, I've always
read that with steam helpers, the helper would try
to start the train first, then the road engine
would start pulling, though Karl would probably be
in a better position to comment on that. The
principle was that the Helper was 'bunching' up
the slack, so that the Road engine didn't have to
start the whole train at once. The two Engineers
would communicate by whistle signals. The helper
had the automatic brake valve cut out, with what
was commonly called the 'double heading
cock'.....though the instructors at BNU in St.
Paul would loudly inform you that it was properly
known as the 'brake pipe cut out cock' :>)
Mike
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Posted by: Don Brown <dbrown02@rochester.rr.com>
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