I found this neat George Westinghouse bio, and one which demonstrates a type of airbrake system. I kinda luv these old style tutes. While I think my Trainz does a good job of simulating all that, you get to do the real thing Phil ! :-)
David, that is a great fact sheet! Our clever Prof Bob's at the state health department could readily do worse ( our local boffins are really good at planning their own superannuation and I often learn more from the Mayo clinic website ). It points out a little emphasised feature - many enteric ( gut ) viruses and the respiratory ones are really cousins. They share modes of transmission particularly. In the old days there was the 'gastric flu'. Prior to say WWII children would often go to school with a handkerchief pinned onto their upper chest garment. Such simple measures have been forgotten, alas modern medicine has made us lazy with personal hygiene. Personally I use a hand rinse product between every consult ( even those without direct contact ) and generally don't offer a handshake. It can be hard to find a handwash that won't give you a skin issue with constant use ( FWIW I use J&J's Angel Blue Microshield ). Air travel gives me the willies with bugs, at 35K feet you can't open a window to get non-recirculated air, there's 500+ people onboard and they can't all be well !
Cheers, Mike.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
I found this neat George Westinghouse bio, and one which demonstrates a type of airbrake system. I kinda luv these old style tutes. While I think my Trainz does a good job of simulating all that, you get to do the real thing Phil ! :-)
Ok, I'm not going to sit here and try to tell everyone that being a freight conductor is not a cool job. Just be aware it's not what it seems. Freight trains are not the same as passenger trains. A smooth ride is not a requirement. There are no seat belts and sometimes the only thing that keeps us in our seats is the armrests! And yes, I have been thrown from my seat and kissed the windshield from slack running in. Try getting hit in the butt with millions of pounds and try to stay in your seat. Doesn't work too well. Just a useless piece of trivia, but my record train weight is 44 million pounds, and I'm not kidding, trains can weigh that much.
There is always a silver lining to every cloud though. I could be digging ditches for a living, for example. All in all, you could do much worse for a career than being a railroader.
It really is a small World some times!! My gg-grandfather walked from Dupage Illinois to Wash DC and back during the Civil War. He went the long way around though as he joined a march thru the South with General Sherman on his way to DC.
After watching Deadliest Catch for a few years, that redefined the hardest job I knew of next to military service. Whatever it is - bravery and/or stubbornness - they have it.
44 million pounds gives quite a bit of butt kick. I like those sorting yards at the big hubs where each car is sent down off a hump and switched to different sidings. The retarding units respond to the measured weight with the right amount of braking to have it roll right to couple safely. I note that sometimes several cars are managed as a group without separating them.
Cheers, Mike.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
I like those sorting yards at the big hubs where each car is sent down off a hump and switched to different sidings. The retarding units respond to the measured weight with the right amount of braking to have it roll right to couple safely. I note that sometimes several cars are managed as a group without separating them.
In that video the loud screaming sound you hear are the retarders "pinching" the wheels of the rail cars to slow them to the desired speed. Hump yards are used at major hubs and the cars roll into what are called "classification" tracks. Each track, or multiple tracks, will be a new train going to a new destination.
In the hump yard I used to travel to, when the desired number of cars had been humped, a set of engines pulls each track(s), assembles the complete train, then shoves the entire "consist" to a different area of the yard to a track that can hold the entire thing. The cars are then hooked up to a yard airline and the cars and brakes are inspected. Sometime after the inspection, the train crew (myself and an engineer) show up with their designated locomotives, "tie" on to the consist, perform an air test from the engines, then prepare to depart.
A none hump yard, like my home terminal, has no hump at all. At my terminal, we use what is called flat switching. We go into a track that needs classified, grab a cut of 20-30 cars, and pull them out on the lead. The assistant conductor, working as a switchman, manually throws switches and lines up the route for the first car(s). The foreman conductor, then signals the engine to go to full throttle and shove the cut of cars. When the cars get fast enough, the conductor signals for the engineer to stop, pulls the cut lever on the car, and the car free rolls down the lead and into the proper track, just like a hump yard. Rinse and repeat up to 300 times in one shift.
That, boys and girls, is today's lesson in train car classification. :-)
There used to be a 'hump yard' where I used to work in Alexandria, Virginia, I did NOT work at the 'hump yard' or even for the railroad, I was a f/f on a fire engine or ladder truck. The 'hump yard' though had been around for almost 100 years before the area got too expensive, ie valuable, as the home prices soared, it is just across the river from Washington DC. In fact part of Alexandria used to be a part of DC, but part of it was given up to make Arlington County as it was 'across the river' and hard to manage for DC, Alexandria got to keep what Arlington didn't want. Anyway their are now thousands of homes, businesses, warehouses, even a fire station, etc, etc all where the 'hump yard' used to be. The plan is to build a few thousand more homes and businesses on the property, it was graded and then 'capped' with top soil, so the oil soaked and otherwise contaminated ground, from the 'hump yard' days, wouldn't be a problem. They do expect problems though as they put in a Metro Rail station and have to dig into the ground, they are thinking they will have to haul all the existing ground they dig up to Baltimore Maryland, as it has a hazardous materials recycling center.
Speaking of medical stuff, a
Speaking of medical stuff, a warning from my employer.
David
Miserable old git
Patiently waiting for the asteroid with my name on it.
I found this neat George
I found this neat George Westinghouse bio, and one which demonstrates a type of airbrake system. I kinda luv these old style tutes. While I think my Trainz does a good job of simulating all that, you get to do the real thing Phil ! :-)
David, that is a great fact sheet! Our clever Prof Bob's at the state health department could readily do worse ( our local boffins are really good at planning their own superannuation and I often learn more from the Mayo clinic website ). It points out a little emphasised feature - many enteric ( gut ) viruses and the respiratory ones are really cousins. They share modes of transmission particularly. In the old days there was the 'gastric flu'. Prior to say WWII children would often go to school with a handkerchief pinned onto their upper chest garment. Such simple measures have been forgotten, alas modern medicine has made us lazy with personal hygiene. Personally I use a hand rinse product between every consult ( even those without direct contact ) and generally don't offer a handshake. It can be hard to find a handwash that won't give you a skin issue with constant use ( FWIW I use J&J's Angel Blue Microshield ). Air travel gives me the willies with bugs, at 35K feet you can't open a window to get non-recirculated air, there's 500+ people onboard and they can't all be well !
Cheers, Mike.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
Good evening everyone. :-)
Good evening everyone. :-)
TimeLord04
Have TARDIS, will travel...
Come along K-9!
Join SETI Refugees
RE: Good evening everyone.
Howdy Scott !
Bill
RE: I found this neat
Ok, I'm not going to sit here and try to tell everyone that being a freight conductor is not a cool job. Just be aware it's not what it seems. Freight trains are not the same as passenger trains. A smooth ride is not a requirement. There are no seat belts and sometimes the only thing that keeps us in our seats is the armrests! And yes, I have been thrown from my seat and kissed the windshield from slack running in. Try getting hit in the butt with millions of pounds and try to stay in your seat. Doesn't work too well. Just a useless piece of trivia, but my record train weight is 44 million pounds, and I'm not kidding, trains can weigh that much.
There is always a silver lining to every cloud though. I could be digging ditches for a living, for example. All in all, you could do much worse for a career than being a railroader.
Phil
Goodnight everyone. :-)
Goodnight everyone. :-)
TimeLord04
Have TARDIS, will travel...
Come along K-9!
Join SETI Refugees
RE: Speaking of medical
It really is a small World some times!! My gg-grandfather walked from Dupage Illinois to Wash DC and back during the Civil War. He went the long way around though as he joined a march thru the South with General Sherman on his way to DC.
After watching Deadliest
After watching Deadliest Catch for a few years, that redefined the hardest job I knew of next to military service. Whatever it is - bravery and/or stubbornness - they have it.
44 million pounds gives quite a bit of butt kick. I like those sorting yards at the big hubs where each car is sent down off a hump and switched to different sidings. The retarding units respond to the measured weight with the right amount of braking to have it roll right to couple safely. I note that sometimes several cars are managed as a group without separating them.
Cheers, Mike.
I have made this letter longer than usual because I lack the time to make it shorter ...
... and my other CPU is a Ryzen 5950X :-) Blaise Pascal
RE: I like those sorting
In that video the loud screaming sound you hear are the retarders "pinching" the wheels of the rail cars to slow them to the desired speed. Hump yards are used at major hubs and the cars roll into what are called "classification" tracks. Each track, or multiple tracks, will be a new train going to a new destination.
In the hump yard I used to travel to, when the desired number of cars had been humped, a set of engines pulls each track(s), assembles the complete train, then shoves the entire "consist" to a different area of the yard to a track that can hold the entire thing. The cars are then hooked up to a yard airline and the cars and brakes are inspected. Sometime after the inspection, the train crew (myself and an engineer) show up with their designated locomotives, "tie" on to the consist, perform an air test from the engines, then prepare to depart.
A none hump yard, like my home terminal, has no hump at all. At my terminal, we use what is called flat switching. We go into a track that needs classified, grab a cut of 20-30 cars, and pull them out on the lead. The assistant conductor, working as a switchman, manually throws switches and lines up the route for the first car(s). The foreman conductor, then signals the engine to go to full throttle and shove the cut of cars. When the cars get fast enough, the conductor signals for the engineer to stop, pulls the cut lever on the car, and the car free rolls down the lead and into the proper track, just like a hump yard. Rinse and repeat up to 300 times in one shift.
That, boys and girls, is today's lesson in train car classification. :-)
Phil
There used to be a 'hump
There used to be a 'hump yard' where I used to work in Alexandria, Virginia, I did NOT work at the 'hump yard' or even for the railroad, I was a f/f on a fire engine or ladder truck. The 'hump yard' though had been around for almost 100 years before the area got too expensive, ie valuable, as the home prices soared, it is just across the river from Washington DC. In fact part of Alexandria used to be a part of DC, but part of it was given up to make Arlington County as it was 'across the river' and hard to manage for DC, Alexandria got to keep what Arlington didn't want. Anyway their are now thousands of homes, businesses, warehouses, even a fire station, etc, etc all where the 'hump yard' used to be. The plan is to build a few thousand more homes and businesses on the property, it was graded and then 'capped' with top soil, so the oil soaked and otherwise contaminated ground, from the 'hump yard' days, wouldn't be a problem. They do expect problems though as they put in a Metro Rail station and have to dig into the ground, they are thinking they will have to haul all the existing ground they dig up to Baltimore Maryland, as it has a hazardous materials recycling center.