Funny how certain things remind you of things
Finally, the things that keep us going off the rails…
Borrowed from somebody’s Nate Frakes collection on Pinterest.
Yup…Railroad Ties
Smite? Did someone say Smite???
Guys;
Just remembered this incident this morning, as it happened several decades ago, but it did get covered in the local newspaper.
Seems that a feisty little rooster was outraged by a passing NS coal train (probably in Franklin County), and attacked the lead locomotive. The rooster’s attack was centered on the angle cock of that locomotive. (Angle cocks allow or prevent brake air from flowing between the various cars and locomotives in a train.) Since the rooster opened the angle cock on the lead locomotive, the brake air exhausted from the train, and the whole 200 car coal train went into an emergency application and stopped!
The moral of this is be kind to roosters. Any creature that can stop a 200 car coal train deserves some respect!
Best, David Meashey
P. S. The little lever in the gunmetal finish at the top of the brake hose is the angle cock.
Dave, I love it! I can’t believe you actually wrote a parable for “the Rooster feareth neither beast nor brake valve” from The Book of Meashey (the LargeScale edition).
- Meashey 2:1 — Always bet on Rooster in a cockfight.
My other favourite verses from the Book are:
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Meashey 3:16 — If it has fur and attitude, give it the right of way. It will otherwise deraileth the train.
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Meashey 3:17 — He who declareth, “It’s only a kitten,” hath not met the kitten.
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Meashey 4:7 — He who ducks and weaves first does not often have to explain himself later.
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Meashey 7:12 — The Amtrak cares not for your tight schedule .
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Meashey 8:6 — Every gathering requireth but one steel drum. Two summoneth the authorities.
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Meashey 12:7 — Thou shalt not wrestle with creatures whose names begin with “Big.”
I seem to have mislaid my copy. Does anyone else have some favourite verse from The Book?