I never dealt with retainers in my years as a yard brakeman, except for maybe releasing one that kept a car from rolling into the clear. But I do remember the days when the retainers were up by the brake wheels...and I mean, up! One either carried a pole with him to help set the retainers, or had to climb up and over to adjust the valves.
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
When I was a Brakeman on the GN Mesabi Division, Superior, WI in the 60's, retainers were used on the loaded ore trains. (205 ore cars) Even with dynamic braking, a lot of the Engineers requested that 50 retainers be set on the head-end, in the SD position as an aid to keeping the slack bunched when a brake pipe reduction was restored to the operating pressure. (usually 75psi) SD stands for Slow Direct. SD position released the pressure in the cylinder portion thru a small orface, which extended the time the brake was applied on the car.
Positions of a four position retainer valve as follows-
D - Direct (Handle in a straight down position) Exhausts normally.
SD - Slow Direct (Handle in a 135 degree counter clockwise position from straight down)
HP - High Pressure (Handle in a 90 degree counter clockwise position from straight down) Retains 20 psi in brake cylinder until retainer is returned to Direct Release, or SD position. Does not retain pressure until a brake application is applied.
LP - Low Pressure. (Handle in a 45 degree counter clockwise position from straight down) Retains 10 psi in brake cylinder until retainer is returned to Direct Release, or SD position. Does not retain pressure until a brake application is applied.
One interesting notation - Brake cylinder was only required to maintain pressure for five minutes during an initial air test. In reality, some would hold pressure for days.
Later on the Soo Line as an Engineer we were required to use retainer on the White Pine Line. At White Pine there was a small yard with a derail at the far end and an extension of about five hundred feet of track with a bumper at the end. The intresting part was that the bumper was at the center of the base of a five hundred foot tall smoke stack. Oops. The smoke stack is still there undamaged even though no-one ever used the retainers. Jack
Quentin
Collin ,operator of the " Eastern Kentucky & Ohio R.R."
QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar ....Interesting info....Are you saying if too much resistence is used up front as in dynamics the weight of the trailing cars would buckle them off the track to derailment...?
QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar Eric: Thanks for the list of data you provided in examples and I'm sure from experience in doing some of the mentioned processes. Seems the engineer has quite a bit resting on his shoulders upon making decisions at the summit how he is going to control his train down the hill in front of him.....I would think he must feel a great bit better if he has...say 5 6-axle engines with good working dynamics to draw from.....Retainers or not...ha.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Murphy Siding kenneo: Did those trains we've all seen in pictures, hauling coal down some mountain in PA or WV, with all the blue smoke from the brakeshoes have to stop at some point and let the wheels cool down? Thanks
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Isambard
Grizzly Northern history, Tales from the Grizzly and news on line at isambard5935.blogspot.com
QUOTE: Originally posted by Lotus098 Huh? Wouldn't the retainers make the train more likely to stall on the way up?[%-)]
QUOTE: Originally posted by 440cuin Are there any other grades (since Saluda is mothballed so it is not in use today) that require the use of retainers regularly? I can only think of one grade in use today and retainers are only required if the train stops while going down the hill, then some retainers need to be set before moving. This is a rare occurance as trains don't stop here. I know of abandoned lines that required retainers on all downhill trains, but are there any lines that would use retainers regularly in use today??? ps; I have seen some old Southern Pacific refers or box cars that had the retainers up high with the hand brake wheel. Does this sugest that the brakeman adjusted the retainers while running across the roofs while the train was moving? Most cars had them located to reach from the ground.
QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar ..One thing I didn't hear in talking to residents of the little summit town of Saluda....When the train is stopped at the top of the "hill".....I don't know if ALL of the cars had the retainers set....In my opinion just observing the steepness of the grade..{it's hard to believe it's a railroad on that grade}, one would think each car, especially if loaded would need it's retainer...."set"...{In all the visits, I never got to witness this operation....even after waiting for up to 4 hrs..}.
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