cuestion about real trains.....

[andregg1]

Hi to all
Can somebody explain to me, what is the real funcion for the circles in each bottom corner on all railroad cars an locomotives?


thank to all
Andre.

[DSchmitt]

From this web site:
http://www.trainscan.com/data/voc/voc.html

"poling pocket - indentation or cup on a rail car or locomotive in which to insert the pole. The pole was about 12 feet long made of hard wood with a steel cap on each end. With the pole inserted between the poling pockets of a locomotive and a car on an adjacent track, the locomotive could pu***he car. This was dangerous to the crew as the pole was difficult to place and often broke. Poling is rarely if ever used today."

[Big_Boy_4005]

The circles in the lower corners are pole pockets. The practice of poleing has been outlawed for years, so modern cars and engines don't have those circles.

So, what is poleing? It was a very dangerous switching move, in which a wooden pole was used to push a car on a parallel track. It was used where industries were located on spurs and the switch was facing the wrong way. A crew member would hold the pole until the two ends were lodged in the pockets, then get out of the way while the engine pushed the car. Many times the pole would break injuring or killing the man on the ground.

[lionelsoni]

The rims of the poling pockets on the local antique mikado, SP-786, appear to have been cut off with a torch, presumably to make them useless.

[Anonymous]

You can see a photo of this move being performed in "The Last Steam Railroad in America" by O.W.Link. The chapter on the Abingdon branch, specifically. The photo is called "Polin' the gon." The caption mentions that the pole was carried under the tender.

Old 2037