Tuesday, July 9, 2013

All Aboard....!!!

Grab a cuppa and enjoy the ride!

                                                               

 Who doesn't love steam  trains????? I remember taking them to visit relatives back in the late '40's and early '50's.

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Train whistles are used to communicate to other railroad workers on a train or to railroad workers in the yard. Different combinations of long and short whistles each have their own meaning. They are used to pass instructions, as a safety signal, and to warn of impending movements of a train. Despite the advent of modern radio communication, most of these whistle signals are still used today:
  • One short: Stop or stopping; apply the brakes
  • One long: Approaching railroad station or junction (if moving), or apply air brakes and equalize pressure (if standing)
  • Two short: A general answer signal or acknowledgement; identical to the "roger" or "10-4" radio terms
  • One short, one long: Inspect the train
  • One long, one short: Visibility obscured
  • Two long: Train is about to proceed forward; release the brakes
  • One long, two short: Additional section follows signaling train
  • Two long, one short or two short, one long: Train is approaching a meeting or waiting point
  • Two long, one short, one long: Train is approaching a grade level crossing (i.e. a road crossing). This is a widely used safety signal used to warn motorists and is blown at every grade level crossing, except where local noise ordinances prohibit it. Known in railroad rulebooks as rule '14L'
  • Three short: Train is about to proceed in reverse (if standing), or train is about to stop at the next station (if moving)
  • Three long: Train cars have come unhooked; train has come apart
  • One long, three short: Flagman, go protect the rear of the train
  • One short, three long: Flagman, go protect the front of the train
  • Four short: Request for signals
  • Four long: Flagman, return to the train from the west or north
  • Five long: Flagman, return to the train from the east or south
  • Four short, one long: Fire alarm; fire on the train
  • Multiple short: Danger, get off the tracks! Used to warn pedestrians or livestock who are on the tracks in front of the approaching train.

4 comments :

  1. Great post. I am a bit of a railfan also. My favorite is narrow gauge (3') steam. Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweetsy_Railroad then click the Cy Chumbly link at the bottom of the page.
    Also search for "the loops" in western N. Carolina. It is an amazing streach of the CSX where it crosses the Blue Ridge at Alta Pass. There was a history channel show about it.
    Terry
    Fla.

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    1. Thanks for the great links! I really miss the sound of trains as there are none up here. Before we moved, there were plenty and I could tell what engineer was on by the way he played on the whistle. There were three different engineers and each one had their own style: one was no-nonsense, one was lazy and my favorite could make that whistle sing!
      Thanks again for stopping by!

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  2. Name is Cy Crumley. I got it wrong. Almost all of the track for the original Tweetsy is gone, except for a short section in the Doe River gorge in Tennessee. The real name for the railroad was the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina.

    Terry again

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