There are so many ways (levers, buttons, wheels) to brake or stop, which makes sense given behemoth with slippery wheels that weighs 115 tons on a light day. (Although there was no dead man’s switch.)
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In the video you can hear the bell (turned on to alert people at crossings or before starting to move, kind of like when a truck beeps when reverses). There is also a rope-activated horn for signals, two short before going forward and three short before going backward.
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The long-long-short-long horn you heard was Morse for Q, apparently done at crossings because that’s what they did in England back in the 19th century to alert people when the Queen was arriving? Please nobody verify this, because I like that story.
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Going backward (“long hood forward”) is scary since you only have mirrors to guide you. Admittedly, the mirrors are pretty big, but the perspective makes it feel everything moves really slow when going back. Compare the mirror and its outside here:pic.twitter.com/WrJntgbCq1
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You have to watch for people and deer, but also make sure the switches are in the right position – like the 1 here – so you don’t end up careening into another stationary locomotive or consist. (I feel pretty proud of using “consist” just like that.)pic.twitter.com/Vxrw3uDH9o
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Stopping is really tricky to get right. The curve is weird – the locomotive doesn’t seem to be doing much for a while, and then stops way too quickly. Only on my 8th run I managed to stop right next to “Malfunction Junction” sign and I felt pretty good about that.pic.twitter.com/pCiUXZANP7
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I’ve been told stopping precisely is probably the hardest part of doing all this. You need to be delicate with cars or otherwise you can damage the cargo, not to mention endanger the people (called brakemen?) doing the coupling and decoupling.
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BTW The Wikipedia page on train coupler designs is, somewhat unsurprisingly, very exhaustive: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railway_coupling …
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Going forward is easier, although it feels really precarious, with the locomotive feeling rather wobbly? Maybe that disappears if you go faster. This one tops out at 90mph, which I’m told makes it relatively benevolent.pic.twitter.com/EJ0x80dSWQ
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I saw a video they played where it seems they actually do some of these for fun? Maybe an event?
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