. The carman's helper . t more derailments occur oncurves than on straight track. Loose and low joints causing incessant poundingin the early part of the spring before the frost is en-tirely out of the ground, tends to loosen spikes a few^feet each way from each joint and in such cases a railmay turn over. The locomotive is harder on the track than the has a long wheel base, which tends to force therails out on curves. The tractive effort also, exertedin a curve, tends to force the rails apart. The heavywheel loads of the locomotive on the track, if the track 150 DERAILMENTS AND DERRIC
. The carman's helper . t more derailments occur oncurves than on straight track. Loose and low joints causing incessant poundingin the early part of the spring before the frost is en-tirely out of the ground, tends to loosen spikes a few^feet each way from each joint and in such cases a railmay turn over. The locomotive is harder on the track than the has a long wheel base, which tends to force therails out on curves. The tractive effort also, exertedin a curve, tends to force the rails apart. The heavywheel loads of the locomotive on the track, if the track 150 DERAILMENTS AND DERRICK CARS is not well supported, tend to strain and graduallyweaken the rail,—part new and part old defect—asit would be shown in the Casualty report. In handling wrecks or derailments, the object inview, if the main lines are blocked, is to clear one mainline as soon as possible. The train dispatcher will ad-vise which one should be cleared first if one is as eas>to clear as another. Methods used vary with the size. The strong- Arm of the Car Department, Better Known as the Big Hook. of derailment, cars or engines involved, and lading ofcars, together wnth facilities for w^orking and the loca-tion of the derailment. Here again the dispatchersknowledge of the location and conditions will be ofvalue to the w^recking foreman and it is good policy toget in touch with him before leaving the terminal. Con-ditions that exist and where w^ork can be started to ad-vantage, will then be known before the outfit leavesthe terminal. 151 THE CARMANS HELPER The trainmaster often accompanies the wrecking out-fit, and in such cases the wrecking foreman may relyon him to keep in touch with dispatcher and notify himwhen extra trains are due. The photograph shows a 100 ton wrecking derrickwhich is used in handHng cars and locomotives whichhave been derailed. The flat cars at the left contain auxiliary trucks tobe applied to wrecked cars; and the one at the right isequipped with a water tank an
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1920, booksubjectrailroa, bookyear1920
