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These moves used to be common. The New York Central's Putnam Division, a rural 53 mile line that started near Yankee Stadium and went 53 miles northward had many flying switches, also called "switching on the fly". They occured on most secondary lines and local yards if rules and topography allowed. It was an extremely useful practice that saved a lot of time. The excitement came not only from how well the flying car or cut or cars was separated, but how the brakeman threw the switches between rolling train segments going in the same direction but not far apart from each other. Among the needed skills was the ability of the engine to accelerate rapidly after the cut in order to give the brakeman enough time to throw the iron to redirect the "flying" part of the train. The engine crew had to simultaneously calculate their own stopping distance after they accelerated - they didn't want to hit any standing cars ahead of them, and also how far the flying cut would go into the siding or diverging route. Who "pulled the pin" (uncoupling lever) and where was something that was carefully considered. Often it was the rider who would brake the cut to a stop. Sometimes a cut had a rider on it to brake one car mechanically, using a "hick" or wooden stick on its brake wheel. Other times the cars just drifted to a stop at a fairly predicitable spot, and still other times they made iron by hitting a standing cut of cars at the proper coupling speed. All of this was subject to the temperature, for cars with warm bearing have journals that roll more easily than cars that have very cold bearings, where the journal waste might make the axle relatively stiff. <br /> A good cutting crew was a ballet show in motion, with the locomotive going this way and that, brakemen crossing and recrossing tracks, switches being thrown quickly and then aligned for the next move carefully. The cars being moved were without air because the pulling away of the cut would part the air hoses and set the cars into emergency if the air cocks were not closed to the train line. This put a lot more demand on the engine's independent brake to stop the cars still attached to it. Some switching engines had long brake handles so the engineer could lean out of the cab to get good vision and still use the handle. Hand signals were precise,. Most railroad yards were filthy with hazardous footing, yet accidents were not common. Many moves were made just to take the brakeman to a new location. Safety was paramount, and railroaders really watched out for one another. You didn't move if you did not see your crew members. When all the action was over, the switches and derails were lined and locked in their "normal" position, not "reverse", the brakeman was where he belonged on the train, dropped cars were "tied down" with their handbrakes and/or skates, cars still with the engine were charged with air, and train orders were re-read for the move to the next location. Waybills for the dropped cars were left with the operator or in a lock box and waybills for picked up cars were placed in the caboose. This was before computers came about. Scale model railroaders try to do realistic flat yard switching, toy train modelers rarely if ever do. It was exciting and interesting. Ask me about "poling" some time...
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