At one point, the process of performing gravity moves was threatened because there were so many accidents arising from the human factors of inexperience and carelessness. But fortunately those who saw the process as a safe and efficient method of switching or running around the power to the rear of the train, were able to reinforce the rules and enhance stricter procedures to keep it safe. Gravity moves or kicking and dropping of cars has been an agesold process since the beginning of railroading. Knowing how to do it safely is not just a job, it's an art. Having the resources to perform gravity switching is also a delicate process. If your yard is bowl-shaped, meaning the grade centers in the middle of the track, the cars will roll back if they do not couple up. But if your yard is on a slope, your cut will gain speed as it approaches the other end which hopefully has another cut of cars with handbrakes applied to catch it! And most importantly the relationship between the conductor and engineer has to be in perfect sync to be able to put just enough momentum to a cut so that it rolls down and couples with the other cars in that track,but not so much that it crashes into them and makes a hard couple. I'll never forget the first time I kicked a cut of cars. I was terrified that I was going to cause a derailment right there! But I had my mentor right there beside me. He told me to keep an eye on where I was walking and just pull the cut lever when he said so and hold it. I think I held my breath right up until it coupled up with the cars down at the bottom of the track. And once it did, I was overwhelmed with the satisfaction of knowing I did a good job and nothing derailed!
back in the late ' 70 ' s and early ' 80 ' s - some had accident insurance ( i didn't ) and some people actually kicked cars so hard that they intentionally caused damage to the contents and they got a few weeks off work and still got paid by the insurance ...
Flat switching was one of the highlights of my career on the railroad. You had a brakeman a utility man as part of your crew Everyone had a “switch list” and knew how the task would be accomplished. Poetry in motion.
Great general video. There is a difference between what they are doing, which is kicking, and what I do I my yard which is pinning cars off. You kick cars uphill to defy gravity. Without a kick it would roll back downhill. Pinning cars off is giving cars a light tap with the locomotive on a downhill into a set of buffer cars that are tied down and letting gravity do the rest.
It was a sad day for many when Doraville Assembly closed in September 2008. There was also a General Motors SPO (Service Parts Operation) right next to that plant. The SPO facility supplied replacement parts to dealers and also supplied the plant. I delivered parts from Michigan to both facilities. Also, there was another assembly plant called Lakewood Assembly located in Lakewood Heights, a southeast suburb of Atlanta.
back in the ' 80 ' s - at southern railroad / norfolk southern - i made a tape recording of the yardmaster calling my conductor on the night shift - to call him into the office to assign some more work ... - every morning when we got done with our usual work - sometimes we would be done early - and we would head towards the yard office and if not called by the yardmaster - we would just ease the engine on past the yard office to the shop and go home - sometimes we would get that call over the radio ... - one morning - as we thought we were done for the night - we were going slowly back towards the yard office - i dropped off near the break room where i was parked and got my tape recorder and then keyed the radio and played -> ' southern simpson yard - yardmaster sloan - calling job 41 conductor black - over ' conductor black was a huge 350 pound black man who was pretty high strung who always talked in quick bursts and was always jumpy ... well - when he heard the yardmaster calling him - he knew for sure that we were going to have to do some other task before quitting - so answered - ' job 41 - conductor black - over ' - then i played the recording again - ' southern simpson yard - yardmaster sloan - calling job 41 conductor black - over ' - now conductor black snapped back quickly - ' job 41 - conductor black - over ' at that time - the engine was right at the switch to the engine shop and conductor black bounded off the engine and headed into the yard office - - about the time he got in there - i came in from a side door and played the recording - and we all got a good laugh ... - - also about that time - was when we started printing the work orders ( switch lists ) out in the yard ( previously - EVERYTHING - was hand written ) - in the yard were a couple of printers - ( housed in air conditioned small enclosures ) - i had a radio shack color computer that i was learning to program - and i made a printout of a fake switch list and brought it to work to play a prank - - so one day - when it came time to get the printout for the next job - i went to get it - and when i got back - i gave them my printouts - i let them look at them for a minute and they ( conductor and 2nd switchman ) ( i can't remember what the designations of the 2 switchmen were now - i think one was the footboard guy - stayed near the engine - and the other was the ' field ' guy ? who stayed in the yard or away from the engine ) started commenting on how the lists were all wrong - ( WOW if i remember that right after 40 years - i guess it is a good sign ) - then i laughed and gave then the real lists
i worked at southern railroad - starting in 1978 - then norfolk southern - at 5:35 - it was against the rules to pull a cut lever with your foot - and the only time we would be riding and not on the ground when we pulled a cut lever is if we were on the engine .
now - i do remember that we would often break the rules - on the north side of the yard - it was downhill from the south and when we kicked cars towards the south - it was uphill and we would kick them faster than it was safe to run and pull the cut lever - so in that case - we did ride the car and pull the pin with our hand - most of those cut levers were too far away and too hard to pull with your foot - also often the travel was from vertical down to more than 90 degrees
NS GE Locomotive 4822 at the last minute of the Video looks like Southern Pacific Bloody Nose Paint Scheme Awesome Video of the Norfolk Southern in Georgia 💯💯💯❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
Up north we call that flat switching. Something i did everyday for 30+ years. Now days on the CN you cant kick a car, its against the rules you have to shove to rest on every track.
Just found your channel thru Danny Harmon recommending it. Small world, I grew up in Doraville and lived there from ‘85 - ‘96. I remember the GM plant well. Great video, looking forward to watching more.
Well done there's a big yard over in saint Paul Canadian Pacific.It's pretty cool to watch and move.The cars around my father's work for Chicago question.Are you still gonna go there for career day?Is also a big yard down in Shakopee Minnesota, it's kinda cool to watch very nice love the video.Keep a good work voice to text
Although it takes more space to type, it's easier to say "suped-up catfish" rather than AC44C6M. Four syllables versus eight syllables, LOL. Just some lingo my brother and I use. Nice video. Love OAR unit 911.
NS has a lot of different colors on its locomotives. Red, Blue, Yellow, The Hedgehogs, and the ones you just mentioned. Could you do a video showcasing those along with Heritage, Operation Lifesaver, and the Green Trains you did a video on? Been a while but I remember that one.
Once again, you hit the ball out of the park. Your videos are some of the highlights for me when on YT. I hope life is treating you well amigo. By the way, what's your opinion on the temporary Floridian Amtrak is starting tomorrow on the tenth of November?
At about 5:19, doesn't the air tank in the cars' braking systems immediately engage the brakes (through the triple valve system) when the cars disengage from the train's air line? I thought that that's a safety feature built in, with rail cars needing to lose all the air in the tank before a car can roll on its own.
I believe they exhaust all the air out of the cars before switching. There's a lever on the side of each car for dumping the air in the car's air tank. I think this can also be done from the lead loco.
Holding up the pin with his foot! I've done that many times! It's actually "legal" (per the rules) because he is still maintaining three points of contact!! Of course the trainmaster will beg to differ if he sees this....
yes that would be nice and also - maybe something about he rules - - there was a rule for EVERY movement or action - that means which hand and which foot to place on the ladder or stirrup or foothold first second third and fourth when ' catching up ' - also the same for dropping down - every year we had to take a test on all the rules - ( i think it was a test on 100 rules out of the several hundreds in the book ) - i can't remember that far now ... ( 40 years ago ) - such as that guy at 5:35 - broke the rules - you are not allowed to pull a cut lever with your foot - or while riding a car - - those were the rules in 1978
@@kablammy7 *you are not allowed to pull a cut lever with your foot - or while riding a car - - those were the rules in 1978* i did that a lot whenever i needed to get down the lead to throw a far switch... beats walking but the rules changes ALWAYS came from those who DID NOT work out on the lead... they NEVER asked us for our opinions on potential rules changes
The CWR train had MOW equipment. Maintenance costs money as far as the spreadsheets are concerned. Its why all the railroads (and NS especially) love to skimp on it. All they see is cost of parts replaced, not the cost saved by not letting things break
At one point, the process of performing gravity moves was threatened because there were so many accidents arising from the human factors of inexperience and carelessness. But fortunately those who saw the process as a safe and efficient method of switching or running around the power to the rear of the train, were able to reinforce the rules and enhance stricter procedures to keep it safe.
Gravity moves or kicking and dropping of cars has been an agesold process since the beginning of railroading. Knowing how to do it safely is not just a job, it's an art. Having the resources to perform gravity switching is also a delicate process. If your yard is bowl-shaped, meaning the grade centers in the middle of the track, the cars will roll back if they do not couple up. But if your yard is on a slope, your cut will gain speed as it approaches the other end which hopefully has another cut of cars with handbrakes applied to catch it! And most importantly the relationship between the conductor and engineer has to be in perfect sync to be able to put just enough momentum to a cut so that it rolls down and couples with the other cars in that track,but not so much that it crashes into them and makes a hard couple.
I'll never forget the first time I kicked a cut of cars. I was terrified that I was going to cause a derailment right there! But I had my mentor right there beside me. He told me to keep an eye on where I was walking and just pull the cut lever when he said so and hold it. I think I held my breath right up until it coupled up with the cars down at the bottom of the track. And once it did, I was overwhelmed with the satisfaction of knowing I did a good job and nothing derailed!
back in the late ' 70 ' s and early ' 80 ' s - some had accident insurance ( i didn't ) and some people actually kicked cars so hard that they intentionally caused damage to the contents and they got a few weeks off work and still got paid by the insurance ...
Yeah
Flat switching was one of the highlights of my career on the railroad.
You had a brakeman a utility man as part of your crew
Everyone had a “switch list” and knew how the task would be accomplished.
Poetry in motion.
Great general video. There is a difference between what they are doing, which is kicking, and what I do I my yard which is pinning cars off. You kick cars uphill to defy gravity. Without a kick it would roll back downhill. Pinning cars off is giving cars a light tap with the locomotive on a downhill into a set of buffer cars that are tied down and letting gravity do the rest.
6:52 "I love it when a train comes together"
It was a sad day for many when Doraville Assembly closed in September 2008. There was also a General Motors SPO (Service Parts Operation) right next to that plant. The SPO facility supplied replacement parts to dealers and also supplied the plant. I delivered parts from Michigan to both facilities. Also, there was another assembly plant called Lakewood Assembly located in Lakewood Heights, a southeast suburb of Atlanta.
“Gon fishing”, nah “gon kicking “👌
another interesting thing to maybe show - are all the hand signals that we used to use - daytime with hand or nighttime with a lantern
Very informative and accurate but not over our heads! Thank you for sharing your story!
back in the ' 80 ' s - at southern railroad / norfolk southern -
i made a tape recording of the yardmaster calling my conductor on the night shift - to call him into the office to assign some more work ...
- every morning when we got done with our usual work - sometimes we would be done early - and we would head towards the yard office and if not called by the yardmaster - we would just ease the engine on past the yard office to the shop and go home - sometimes we would get that call over the radio ...
-
one morning - as we thought we were done for the night - we were going slowly back towards the yard office - i dropped off near the break room where i was parked and got my tape recorder and then keyed the radio and played -> ' southern simpson yard - yardmaster sloan - calling job 41 conductor black - over '
conductor black was a huge 350 pound black man who was pretty high strung who always talked in quick bursts and was always jumpy ... well - when he heard the yardmaster calling him - he knew for sure that we were going to have to do some other task before quitting - so answered - ' job 41 - conductor black - over '
- then i played the recording again - ' southern simpson yard - yardmaster sloan - calling job 41 conductor black - over ' - now conductor black snapped back quickly - ' job 41 - conductor black - over '
at that time - the engine was right at the switch to the engine shop and conductor black bounded off the engine and headed into the yard office -
-
about the time he got in there - i came in from a side door and played the recording - and we all got a good laugh ...
-
-
also about that time - was when we started printing the work orders ( switch lists ) out in the yard ( previously - EVERYTHING - was hand written )
- in the yard were a couple of printers - ( housed in air conditioned small enclosures )
-
i had a radio shack color computer that i was learning to program - and i made a printout of a fake switch list and brought it to work to play a prank -
-
so one day - when it came time to get the printout for the next job - i went to get it - and when i got back - i gave them my printouts
-
i let them look at them for a minute and they ( conductor and 2nd switchman ) ( i can't remember what the designations of the 2 switchmen were now - i think one was the footboard guy - stayed near the engine - and the other was the ' field ' guy ? who stayed in the yard or away from the engine ) started commenting on how the lists were all wrong - ( WOW if i remember that right after 40 years - i guess it is a good sign )
-
then i laughed and gave then the real lists
Nice video as always, Charlie. I remember the BOP plant.
OUTSTANDING Video! I really enjoy your videos and topics👍🙏🔥💪🇺🇸❤️
That box car on that safety train needs a new set of wheels it was going side to side pretty bad. Great video.
1:22 “We’ll have to hurry up and wait.”
Reminds me of that *Waits faster* meme
Awesome analogy with the A team and BA's van! I guarantee BA could be a locomotive engineer, there ain't nothing he couldn't drive 😅
i worked at southern railroad - starting in 1978 - then norfolk southern
- at 5:35 -
it was against the rules to pull a cut lever with your foot - and the only time we would be riding and not on the ground when we pulled a cut lever is if we were on the engine .
now - i do remember that we would often break the rules - on the north side of the yard - it was downhill from the south and when we kicked cars towards the south - it was uphill and we would kick them faster than it was safe to run and pull the cut lever - so in that case - we did ride the car and pull the pin with our hand
- most of those cut levers were too far away and too hard to pull with your foot - also often the travel was from vertical down to more than 90 degrees
@1:17, didn't anyone else notice the squirrel, a novelty to me as I have only seen one in the flesh in Barrie, ON.
Hi from NZ,
Anthony
Pretty Sure that guy on 7103 used to be an engineer for Seaboard Central.
I think you're right.
@@v12productionsyou cost the other guy his job
The engineer on 7103 at 5:15 looks like Tim, the UA-cam Seaboard Central model railroader.
@5:11 Hey - I see Tim Garland, lol @SeaboardCentral
I remember doing an uphill "drop" in Thunder Bay in 1971. That's exciting! See if you can get a crew to demonstrate that.
NS GE Locomotive 4822 at the last minute of the Video looks like Southern Pacific Bloody Nose Paint Scheme
Awesome Video of the Norfolk Southern in Georgia
💯💯💯❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
Up north we call that flat switching. Something i did everyday for 30+ years. Now days on the CN you cant kick a car, its against the rules you have to shove to rest on every track.
3:22 boxcar wiggle wiggle.
Engineer Tim!👍
Love those tribute locomotives. Very cool.
Great video Charlie! I enjoy your work !
Nice video V12! love your work!
Thanks!
Your welcome
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that uses my foot when kickin
That box car's front truck on safety train was doing some serious hunting. Going side to side
Just found your channel thru Danny Harmon recommending it. Small world, I grew up in Doraville and lived there from ‘85 - ‘96. I remember the GM plant well. Great video, looking forward to watching more.
Thanks! More to come!
Yes sir very nice thanks.💪👍🇺🇸
Another awesome video from v12!
Thanks!
Very interesting video. Thank you. 😃😃😃❤❤❤
Kicking? Quick, someone gotta notify Hyce
Nice vid man❤
Well done there's a big yard over in saint Paul Canadian Pacific.It's pretty cool to watch and move.The cars around my father's work for Chicago question.Are you still gonna go there for career day?Is also a big yard down in Shakopee Minnesota, it's kinda cool to watch very nice love the video.Keep a good work voice to text
Great catch brother
Ole Tim!
3:19 lol - the NS safety train should change out the wheelset on that boxcar to eliminate the hunting oscillation and return it to safe operation.
No longer making cars and trucks, but look, we’ve got a movie set. Nothing but up from here.
I ❤ trains 🚂
I like train videos on UA-cam 👍
Although it takes more space to type, it's easier to say "suped-up catfish" rather than AC44C6M. Four syllables versus eight syllables, LOL. Just some lingo my brother and I use. Nice video. Love OAR unit 911.
Nice.
Really cool shot at 5:03.
In fact, just this whole video is pretty cool
Thanks!
I could be wrong, but the engineer at 5:15 looks like Tim Garland, You Tuber well known for his freelance model railroad the Seaboard Central!
I think you're right about that. ( ;
@ He gave you a good horn salute on departure, too.
NS has a lot of different colors on its locomotives. Red, Blue, Yellow, The Hedgehogs, and the ones you just mentioned. Could you do a video showcasing those along with Heritage, Operation Lifesaver, and the Green Trains you did a video on? Been a while but I remember that one.
Thanj you for another informative video on railroading! I enjoyed watching this video. (Posted 9 November 2024 at 1249 CST._
Thanks!
Great video as always
New subscriber here from Danny Harmon’s channel. 👍🏼
Thanks!
The gravity point is center for flyings. A jet wings on high golden meltings. One time only please.
5:43 I hope Hyce will see that video in the future
05:12 Is that Seaboard Central?
Railroads are the A team of moving freight.
Once again, you hit the ball out of the park. Your videos are some of the highlights for me when on YT. I hope life is treating you well amigo. By the way, what's your opinion on the temporary Floridian Amtrak is starting tomorrow on the tenth of November?
You have to wonder what Percentage of the Data assembled on the Safety train are Planned, Money Allocated and Work Completed ? 🤔
At about 5:19, doesn't the air tank in the cars' braking systems immediately engage the brakes (through the triple valve system) when the cars disengage from the train's air line? I thought that that's a safety feature built in, with rail cars needing to lose all the air in the tank before a car can roll on its own.
I believe they exhaust all the air out of the cars before switching. There's a lever on the side of each car for dumping the air in the car's air tank. I think this can also be done from the lead loco.
Keep those intermodal trains moving, my paycheck counts on it. 😂
Holding up the pin with his foot! I've done that many times! It's actually "legal" (per the rules) because he is still maintaining three points of contact!! Of course the trainmaster will beg to differ if he sees this....
And just like that I'm on train tube 😂
GOOD"""$TUFF"""100%%%%
Great video man
Thanks!
Kicking Cars seem to be a very dangerous thing to do. What happens if you accidentally trip over while running along the car?
Please do a video on "Kicking Cars" V12, and keep up the fine work!
Thanks! It's on the list!
That 911 trains Boxcar (behind the cab) looked like the truck wobble could BE the next accident
My thoughts exactly.
That box car is not normal! They will find out soon enough when it derails at track speed. 😂
Oh no
Nice nice
You get good at kicking on rcls jobs.
❤
I'd watch that longer video about kicking cars just to find out what more there is to say - it's just an unpowered shove
yes that would be nice and also - maybe something about he rules -
- there was a rule for EVERY movement or action - that means which hand and which foot to place on the ladder or stirrup or foothold first second third and fourth when ' catching up ' - also the same for dropping down
- every year we had to take a test on all the rules - ( i think it was a test on 100 rules out of the several hundreds in the book ) - i can't remember that far now ... ( 40 years ago )
-
such as that guy at 5:35 - broke the rules - you are not allowed to pull a cut lever with your foot - or while riding a car -
- those were the rules in 1978
@@kablammy7
*you are not allowed to pull a cut lever with your foot - or while riding a car -
- those were the rules in 1978*
i did that a lot whenever i needed to get down the lead to throw a far switch... beats walking but the rules changes ALWAYS came from those who DID NOT work out on the lead...
they NEVER asked us for our opinions on potential rules changes
"Gravity"?, everything on earth has gravity. I think you mean to say; mass plus force and momentum equals: inertia.
Non revenue etc. Lol. Yup let track etc go down as NOT producing revenue lol. So much for other trains running safely etc
The CWR train had MOW equipment. Maintenance costs money as far as the spreadsheets are concerned. Its why all the railroads (and NS especially) love to skimp on it. All they see is cost of parts replaced, not the cost saved by not letting things break
Can you tell me your actual name please
13 hour
Nice video! didnt know railroads kick cars. I was at a train show today and got a PRR M1A in HO
Nice!
@@v12productionsyou oughta do a heritage unit compilation one day! Would be interesting to see how many heritage units you have seen.