12-03-2009, 11:33 AM
From what I saw in various yards and sidings I was sent to to work on refrigerated rail cars, wheel stops are not intended to stop the car unless someone makes a mistake. When I worked in the Los Angeles Harbor at a shipping terminal, we had a break bulk warehouse with tracks in front of the loading dock. We had wheel stops like those pictured that were painted bright yellow. I never saw a rail car pushed closer than 6-10 feet from the stops and never saw the paint on those stops chipped or scratched.