Bottling the air

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   The ABDW brake valve made its appearance in the late 1960s.It was very sensitive to the slightest change in brake pipepressure.  Instructions had been for the engineer to reducebrake pipe pressure to 30 lbs (?), afterward he would soundthe whistle to notify the brakeman to uncouple.  The anglecocks were to be slowly closed, then the pin could be pulled. An empty train from Lamberts Point had left with only 90mtys with instructions to stop at Petersburg and pick up anadditional 90 at Broadway Yard.  On the slope from Poeto Petersburg, the train stopped and the brakeman slammedthe angle cocks shut before the air was properly reduced. As the head end crew coupled to the pick up, the rear of thetrain passed.  The conductor had thought the head endcrew had made a record-setting pick up, but as the cabpassed, the head end crew signaled that he was in commandof a run-away.  The sensitivity of the ABDW valve had releasedthe "bottled" air when the brakeman slammed the angle cocksshut  It took a few minutes for the brakes to release.                                              Harry Bundy
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