On the way home from work I was enjoying the sunshine with the window rolled down. As I approached an industrial railroad crossing, the afternoon was broken by the LOUD airhorn of a Utah Railway Geep. Of course being a railroad fan, I stopped to watch it cross (and let my heartbeat get back to normal). As I watched it creep across the intersection (at probably 10 miles an hour) I was intrigued to see how the prototype does its business. At the end of the ten car train, the Conductor radioed a stop command. Both Conductor and Brakeman got off the back to close the access gate. After doing so, both got back on the tail and a Proceed order was given by radio. The peddler then continued on its way.
Now I've read about this sort of thing being put into practice on Lance Mindheim's railroad (How to Build More Layout in Less Space, Kalmbach publishing) but it was interesting to take further visual notes about how things are done. No flares were used but the Engineer had no qualms about laying on the horn the whole way through the crossing as there were only the standard crossbuck signs (plus road signage and round RXR signs) letting motorists know of the possibility of a train. The whole procedure probably took only three or four minutes but it was a very educational experience. Thanks to Kalmbach, Lance Mindheim, and the Utah Railway for the education.
Anyone have any other such prototype stories?
What you saw is every day railroading..I could share many stories about doing the work.
Back in the day though usually the rear brakeman took care of the gate since the head man would close and lock the derail and close and lock the siding switch,swing on the engine as it rolled by back to the train where he would make the coupling and connect the air lines,open the air valves and release the handbrakes on the first 2-3 cars-yes even back then we would tighten down 2 or 3 brakes depending on the number of cars in the train consist...
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
If you can get a copy of the Model Rail Cast http://modelrailcast.com/ show 111. Its all about how the operations of the proto vs the model. Its a worthy download
ratled
Modeling the Klamath River area in HO on a proto-lanced sub of the SP “The State of Jefferson Line”