[GreenKeys] OT: Teletypes, Telephone & Railroads

[kf9nz at juno.com]

      A "consist" of a freight train is a complete list of all car no's,
lading (what's in the car), destination and routing.   The more
abbreviated listing would include only the number of loads and empties (
and sometimes perishable and livestock),  gross tonnage, the engine
number, and the names of the Conductor and Enginman (engine person?), the
time they reported for duty.   This informatioin might be called the
"register" or "bid" or lots of other names and was the basic information
used by Train Dispatchers.  Until the 1970's or so there was no consist
transferred by electronic means.    A receiving yard or terminal didn't
know what was in the train that was arriving until the Conductor
delivered the waybills to the yard office.   

        A "hump" is a small hill constructed to allow freight cars to be
switched by means of gravity.  Strings of cars were pushed over the top
of the crest where they were uncoupled while in motion (3-5 mph) and
allowed to coast down the grade into any one of several "classification"
tracks.  The switches and control of the speed of the rolling cars were
controlled by various means (long story).    The other means of switching
freight cars is called "flat switching" or momentium switching.   A
switch engine shoves a string of cars up to 3-5 mph and then reduces the
throttle to idle.   Switchmen beside the tracks uncouple the cars and
allow them to roll, operating the switches by hand ahead of each car to
roll into the proper track.    I should mention that freight cars being
switched have no brakes.  All air for the TRAIN braking system is "bled"
before cars are switched.     Also, BarrYard in Riverdale Il has no
"hump" tower because it has no hump.  My office was at that yard for 15
years or so.

        More than you want to know?

Frank 



On Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:35:10 -0400 Roy Morgan <k1lky at earthlink.net>
writes:
> 
> On Apr 16, 2009, at 1:27 PM, pdwills at cedarknolltelephone.com 
> wrote:...
> > There were a lot of local loops for special functions such
> > as distributing information within a large station or
> > sending consist information to a hump tower.
> 
> Do I understand the terms correctly:
> 
> "consist information":
> details of what cars a train being put together would consist of
> 
> "hump tower":
> signal and switching tower that managed a section of a rail yard 
> that  
> included a "hump", over which cars would be pushed to roll to the  
> train being made up.
> 
> Roy
> 
> Roy Morgan
> k1lky at earthlink.net
> 529 Cobb St.
> Groton NY, 13073
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ______________________________________________________________
> GreenKeys mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/greenkeys
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:GreenKeys at mailman.qth.net
> 
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> 
> 
 
____________________________________________________________
Stuck in a dead end job?? Click to start living your dreams by earning an online degree.
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTKL6eOKNW4moIGqaEWyu5Xj7DSkJQRFEZdEIgSAN4vnq8W0lWDsPG/