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Any Turntables and round houses still standing?
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<P>Mike is certainly right. The turntable and roundhouse here in Conway yard are in full swing. This ex- PRR yard was once the largest classification yard in the world operating two humps continuously.</P> <P>I work there second shift where most days I operate NS (ex PRR) SW-1500 #2228 still in Conrail blue. From the cab on the turntable I can see the big PRR sign on the building referred to as the "Y" (it used to be a lodging facility with a cafeteria) and watch the cars as they are pushed over the hump and roll past the back side of the roundhouse. The house has 10 stalls and is over 100 years old and has been modified and updated many times over the years. </P> <P>A busy shift on the inbound at east park will see as many as 20 locomotives come off the road for service with many being relayed back out. That is about as many as anyone would want to fuel, sand, and otherwise service in one shift.</P> <P>Good units go to the outbound to fill orders for power sometimes with a spin to get them flying the right direction while shopped units come down to the table to be placed on an empty spur or in the appropriate stall. Our time is spent in shoving locos in and out sometimes moving the same unit several times for different repairs in different stalls. No running is allowed in the shop. We use battery power and a spotter circuit to move inside. Outside, if it is more convenient for us we drive the units but of course if they are dead we have to grab them with the shifter.</P> <P>Sometimes I operate the turntable which can be a brutal job. Nearly eight hours of continuous walking, climbing up and down on engines, setting and releasing brakes, bending over and throwing de-rails. There are times we can't even take a breather.</P> <P>Once a unit is "OK" off it goes to make some more money. </P>
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