And why does more modern equipment have poling pockets, when the practice was outlawed so long ago?
The use of the pole pocket didn’t finally vanish until the 1950’s-1960’s. The docksider was from the era where the pole was used in switching.
It was a dangerous undertaking, pun intended. The cars in 1900 weighed 50 tons, where the cars in 1950-60 weighed up to 130 tons. Finding a hoghead who could move his machine six inches v. six feet while setting the pole was hard to do. The poles in 1900 were made of a harder wood than in 1960, too. For these reasons, plus the lawyers, the practice died out.
Poling pockets just gives a reason for another piece of equipment for the RR. …
… What’s that you say Steve ? “photo from prr.railfan.net used for educational purposes only”
Here are a couple of examples of poles used in model railroading.
http://www.freerails.com/view_topic.php?id=2123&forum_id=48&page=1
did you see that the pole is sometimes referred to as a “rooster”… heavens!
How difficult is it to fix the double chuff syndrome?
Greg Elmassian said:
did you see that the pole is sometimes referred to as a “rooster”… heavens!
Strictly speaking, a “Rooster” is a pole (or light rail section) with a loop or hook on the end that attaches into the coupler or a welded-on loop on the end bolster of a car for moving it. A pole is a (usually) long piece of lumber, either with or without a steel cap on the end, that is used to push cars while the locomotive is on an adjacent track. This accounts for the positioning of the poling socket outboard on the end bolster with a 30º (or so) tilt outward.
On the subject of outlawed poling: The poles were usually monitored by train crew on the gound so they wouldn’t fall out while the train was in motion. Many times there was a hang-up, and the pole was bent to the breaking point and personnel were injured or killed by flying splinters or even the entire pole. Not a good thing, even back when train crews were considered semi-expendable by the railroads.
Vincent D’Agostino said:
How difficult is it to fix the double chuff syndrome?
Vinny,
It wasn’t difficult at all.
- Separate the boiler/cab from the chassis
- Remove the four screws holding down the PCB’s for clearance to the chuff mechanism
- the sensor is the little square thing with tree legs into a small PCB to the right of the magnet wheel
- With a small common screwdriver carefully pry the sensor about 1/32 of an inch away from the magnet wheel. That’s all mine needed.
Is yours “blessed” with the double chuff too?
Yes mine has the double chuff issue.
Seems easy enough to fix I may give it a try.
Thanks!