"Bottling the Air"

[NW Mailing List]

Didn't they add (and still have?) yard air in Bluefield? Once the train was made up and the power was on the east end, then an air line from a stationary compressor in the yard would be attached to the brake line at the west end, charging the system from both ends at a faster rate. Or was that done just before the train was made up? How would you tell the system was fully charged in a made-up train -- have someone on the yard crew wait for the brake to release in the middle of the train? Someone with the knowledge please explain how this works.


Bruce in Blacksburg
Bruce:
The East Yard at Bluefield MAY have had yard air.  In Nov. '70, I was sent to the
East Yard because the Safety Department had received many complaints from
the Radford Div. train crews about the safety habits of the Bluefield yard crews.
The Safety Dept. was also concerned about train orders for eastbound trains --
there was no operator at East Yard and the conductor was responsible for 
selecting the applicable orders.  What happened if the orders ran out ?  So
I didn't do much yard-wandering and can't recall if there was yard air.
As far as charging the brake system -- air brakes weren't exactly my forte'. I
once asked the  Mechanical Department's Air Brake Instructor if he could give
me an abbreviated course in Air Brake 101.  He said, "Psssst, it's on; psssst, it's
off" and I've had to live with that ever since.    Harry Bundy     



Didn't they add (and still have?) yard air in Bluefield? Once the train was made up and the power was on the east end, then an air line from a stationary compressor in the yard would be attached to the brake line at the west end, charging the system from both ends at a faster rate. Or was that done just before the train was made up? How would you tell the system was fully charged in a made-up train -- have someone on the yard crew wait for the brake to release in the middle of the train? Someone with the knowledge please explain how this works.


Bruce in Blacksburg
Bruce:
The East Yard at Bluefield MAY have had yard air.  In Nov. '70, I was sent to the
East Yard because the Safety Department had received many complaints from
the Radford Div. train crews about the safety habits of the Bluefield yard crews.
The Safety Dept. was also concerned about train orders for eastbound trains --
there was no operator at East Yard and the conductor was responsible for 
selecting the applicable orders.  What happened if the orders ran out ?  So
I didn't do much yard-wandering and can't recall if there was yard air.
As far as charging the brake system -- air brakes weren't exactly my forte'. I
once asked the  Mechanical Department's Air Brake Instructor if he could give
me an abbreviated course in Air Brake 101.  He said, "Psssst, it's on; psssst, it's
off" and I've had to live with that ever since.    Harry Bundy     

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