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Interesting responses. I have always followed the way we were taught which was a minimum of one handbrake. The rule of thumb was 10% of handbrakes should be tied, but the actual amount was up to the crew. In certain areas Timetable Special Instructions require a certain minimum up to and including all handbrakes to be tied. We have a couple places where this is the rule. One is a mine where cars are loaded on a 2.8% grade and another is a power plant with a yard with a tough grade (not sure of %). Both are all brakes spots. In the mine area we would generally couple on and make hoses and charge the cut before we even thought about cutting off the brakes. <br /> <br />I think your question about kicking cars has been pretty well answered. I would add that we would generally set the first car (or cut) in a track and apply a handbrake before beginning flat switching ("kicking") cars into that track. This should avoid the possibility of a car moving a bit too fast rolling out of the yard or into anybody else's way. <br /> <br />LC
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