06-10-2010, 11:05 AM
For some railroads the shoving platform solves many problems. shove moves of any length need a traiman on the leading edge of the shove. The platform gives them a safe place to ride. Also, on some railroads the trainman riding the side of a car for more than XXX distance can claim an arbitrary on his time sheet (basically he gets paid extra for the long shove) but he cannot claim said arbitrary if a caboose or platform is available to ride on.
-Dave