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General Discussion / Re: Gravity Switching - A Grave Mistake
« on: May 13, 2014, 02:00:32 AM »
In addition to the B&SR, the SR&RL also appears to have employed "flying switch" movements on occasion. The "Sandy River Line" DVD of 1930s film footage by Newell Martin, which is sold by the SR&RL group up in Phillips, includes a short but amazing sequence in which SR&RL #18 (if I remember correctly) is moving northbound into Phillips yard with combine #11, and the engine pulls away into the roundhouse lead while the combine continues up the main by inertia and is brought to a stop in front of the Phillips station with just handbrakes, all in a single continuous movement. However, this was all done on level ground and so is quite different from "gravity braking".
One of the more dramatic historical examples of the "flying switch" I've heard about was on the Long Island RR in the early 1900s, in which eastbound express trains from New York City to resort towns on eastern Long Island in the summer season would be split into two sections in Manorville, NY (which is about 15 miles from my home): the engine and the front half of the consist would continue on the main line to Greenport, NY without stopping, while the rear half would take the line to Montauk, NY and couple onto a second engine that was already accelerating away from the junction! This was all supposed to be done at speed and in such a manner that the passengers were unaware of what had occurred. Not safe at all, but I'm sure it must have been amazing to witness.
-Philip Marshall
One of the more dramatic historical examples of the "flying switch" I've heard about was on the Long Island RR in the early 1900s, in which eastbound express trains from New York City to resort towns on eastern Long Island in the summer season would be split into two sections in Manorville, NY (which is about 15 miles from my home): the engine and the front half of the consist would continue on the main line to Greenport, NY without stopping, while the rear half would take the line to Montauk, NY and couple onto a second engine that was already accelerating away from the junction! This was all supposed to be done at speed and in such a manner that the passengers were unaware of what had occurred. Not safe at all, but I'm sure it must have been amazing to witness.
-Philip Marshall