Equipment roster numbers for logging disconnects

[bopdoc]

Did logging companies letter/number their disconnects as part of their roster? I've been scanning a lot of old photos, and while some of the skeleton cars, and lots of the flatcars, had numbers, I haven't seen any of the disconnects with numbers; and I'm wondering whether or not to number mine.

[tomikawaTT]

The only place I ever saw disconnects in operation they each had a number.  No need for a road name or reporting marks, they coldn't be interchanged.  The numbers were small, only a few inches high, and were used to keep track of things like brake tests and journal greasing.

Those were modern (mid-1960s) steel-frame pivot platforms with roller bearings and air brakes.  When separated the road used a 'rooster' (rigid bar) between the coupler pockets under the log, along with a brake hose with a glad hand at each end wrapped several turns around the rooster to keep it off the ground.  The 'outside' ends had vertical crank hand brakes.  Couplers, both 'inside' and 'outside' were link-and-pin.  The yard hands were smart enough to use long-shaft hooks to handle the links.

The railroad, the Kiso Rintetsu in Central Japan, 762mm (2' 6") gauge, closed in 1975 - done in by self-loading log trucks.

Chuck

 

[bopdoc]

Thanks, Chuck....having a mild form of OCD, I felt compelled to put a number on everything my logging company owned....and I will.... but in lower case!