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Re: Kicking Cars @ SP’s Desert Yard 1990
Author: Chris Walker
Date: 04-26-2018 - 23:42
Dr Zarkoff Wrote:
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> > I really enjoyed the great skill of the engineer
> in that SW1500, who shoved those cars at just the
> right speed to make perfect joints, every time. I
> could hear that he made the joints.
>
> It's the switchmen who make the joints; the
> engineer merely responds to their signals.
Interesting take....we learned to anticipate the Shunter's move and regulate the move accordingly, once you knew the vagaries of the various Shunters and their foibles, sweet. Same with the men on the ground, they learned the habits of the Shunt Enginedrivers, whether he be old and cranky or young, new and learning to adjust just when they changed their signalling to the locomotive.
We didn't have knuckle couplers but a vertical Hook into centre Buffer and it took some balls to step in and lift the hook when the loco shoved in for an ease-up, 40 or 50 wagons down. You really wanted to know your man then.
Reverse was the guy's who took several attempts to life the hook, the savvy Enginedriver knew who those guys were and moved accordingly careful not to knock the Shunter off his feet.
Fast runners got waved down earlier than slower Drivers, some just never caught on and bumbled their way through life, applied to both the traffic branch on the ground and the loco branch in the cab.
I could relate a few instances but you probably wouldn't understand our lingo.
Chris
in New Zealand
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> > I really enjoyed the great skill of the engineer
> in that SW1500, who shoved those cars at just the
> right speed to make perfect joints, every time. I
> could hear that he made the joints.
>
> It's the switchmen who make the joints; the
> engineer merely responds to their signals.
Interesting take....we learned to anticipate the Shunter's move and regulate the move accordingly, once you knew the vagaries of the various Shunters and their foibles, sweet. Same with the men on the ground, they learned the habits of the Shunt Enginedrivers, whether he be old and cranky or young, new and learning to adjust just when they changed their signalling to the locomotive.
We didn't have knuckle couplers but a vertical Hook into centre Buffer and it took some balls to step in and lift the hook when the loco shoved in for an ease-up, 40 or 50 wagons down. You really wanted to know your man then.
Reverse was the guy's who took several attempts to life the hook, the savvy Enginedriver knew who those guys were and moved accordingly careful not to knock the Shunter off his feet.
Fast runners got waved down earlier than slower Drivers, some just never caught on and bumbled their way through life, applied to both the traffic branch on the ground and the loco branch in the cab.
I could relate a few instances but you probably wouldn't understand our lingo.
Chris
in New Zealand
