Steam era signals

[rrinker]

There are a few videos out there on Youtube showing steam-era switching. No rougher handling than today with radios. If you watch some you will see the hand signals used, one of which is as the cars to be coupled get close, the brakeman holds his hands a distance apart and brings them closer together indicating the seperation, until he finally waves a stop. Exprience will tell him how much further the last car will move as the slack stretches out based on the slope of the railroad. Even at Strasburg, where they often switch and couple up with just hand signals, not the radios, they aren't slammign into cars - not only would it be bad for vintage equipment, it would be annoying and potentially dangerous for the passengers.

--Randy