Caught this shot as a local was shoving back and an eastbound hit the diamonds at Fostoria,Ohio.I wish the lighting was better for the two guys riding the hopper car.Still,they met at the diamond at the same time and I had my camera,once in a while you get lucky.
That must have sounded as good as it looks, with all those wheels slamming across the diamonds! :tb-biggrin:
Dunno if I(or for that matter the NS)could condone the switchman riding the inside side of the hopper car while passing another train. All thats needed is a partially shifted load or a badly rocking car on the train they are meeting and that guy is toast! That switch crew on the shove should have known there would be a meet occuring and should have adjusted their riding positions accordingly and both rode on the outside of the shoving train. I have done this a number of times myself and even as a sole trainman protecting a shove I would never ride on the side of a shove that would be incurring a meet with another train. We have radios to direct the movement when out of sight of the engineer and/or other crew members. If I was in doubt, I would take the safe course. Those guys were shoving over a diamond, all it would take is a narrow or broken flange and that hopper will wind up heading for that opposing freight. That switchman on the inside has nowhere to go if danger occurs, nowhere to jump to safety. Think "STAYING ALIVE" guyz and galz, go home to your loved ones in your vehicle, NOT in a body bag. CT
