06-30-2010, 04:41 AM
Yes, when switching industries you *would* couple and recharge the brake line every time you pick up/set out a car. When you uncouple from your train, the portion of the train you leave behind will lose brake pipe pressure, but there will still be air on the train. Each car has a reservoir with air in it. When you hook back up, you are recharging the brake pipe, plus whatever air each car used out of it's reservoir to apply the brakes, but you are not recharging from completely empty.
When switching in a yard situation, many times crews will switch with just the brakes on the engine. In this case, the crew member on the ground will walk the cut of cars and pull a lever on each car, bleeding the air from the reservoir on each car, rendering the brake system inoperable. In this case you would rely on the brakes of the engine, and the handbrakes on individual cars. Like mentioned above, this is unacceptable, and a major FRA violation, if used outside of yard limits, regardless of distance.
When switching in a yard situation, many times crews will switch with just the brakes on the engine. In this case, the crew member on the ground will walk the cut of cars and pull a lever on each car, bleeding the air from the reservoir on each car, rendering the brake system inoperable. In this case you would rely on the brakes of the engine, and the handbrakes on individual cars. Like mentioned above, this is unacceptable, and a major FRA violation, if used outside of yard limits, regardless of distance.
-Dave