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"Double Heading" with steam engines back in the early days...?
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sam,</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thanks for posting the link to that poling thread.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">In more recent times, poling was only used for unique switching moves such as ones where the engine was blocked by cars fouling a switch, so it could not tie onto them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But, as you mention, poling was once a production method of classification yard switching that is relatively unknown today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was basically a method of kicking cars without needing to accelerate and brake a whole cut for each kick.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T</span>he cars were simply plucked off the end of the cut, and kicked with an engine pushing a poling car.</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">It is interesting that the thread touched on that largely forgotten practice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John White details the practice of yard poling in his book, <i>The American Railroad Freight Car</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thread shows a model of a poling car.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t know which railroads used production poling.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>White mentions the practice by the PRR.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">I agree that trains in this era were made up of fewer cars than today, and there may have been many trains of 4-5 cars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However there is considerable evidence of trains over 20 cars in the 1880s, and 50 cars or more around 1900.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here is a NYC train circa 1900 with what looks like at least 30 cars. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;"><a href="http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/nyc-steam-agd.jpg"><span style="font-family: verdana,geneva;"><span style="font-size: small;">http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/nyc/nyc-steam-agd.jpg</span></span></a></span></p>
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