Replacing a knuckle.

Is it hard to lift the 85lb. knuckle during training? Do you have to lift it up then hold it with one hand while you put a pin in with the other hand? Or do you just lift it up and push it into place?

Call the Car department

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it (unless of course you can't lift 85lbs), they'yy teach you how to do it and then a year and a half later, when you actually have to do it for real, you'll have forgotten everything and take 30 mins to get the frigging thing replaced and then have to listen to a bunch of junk from your Hoghead

Oh yeah and the dispatcher will be well pissed and hold you up in the next available sideing...sleepy time

Not really that hard to change, everyone told me not to worry you'd probably never have to change one. Last week had one broke 50 cars back, cut the crossing perfectly though. This week a different engineer got a draw bar on me. Can't wait to see what next week brings me.

I'll let you know when i do it in conductor school this week.

anydaynow wrote:Is it hard to lift the 85lb. knuckle during training? Do you have to lift it up then hold it with one hand while you put a pin in with the other hand? Or do you just lift it up and push it into place?

Not hard at all. We did it last week, our first week in class. You pull the pin out of the knuckle, pull on the pinlifter and out falls the knuckle sometimes with a little assistance, but keep the toes back. Reinserting it just requires patience, but not difficult.

its practice............so when its 0300 hours in the middle of nowhere and train goes into emergency........its dark, raining, and cold, and you have to walk back 75 cars to find out hogger busted a knuckle....!!!!!!!!!!

EW-SETT wrote:its practice............so when its 0300 hours in the middle of nowhere and train goes into emergency........its dark, raining, and cold, and you have to walk back 75 cars to find out hogger busted a knuckle....!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I know I know........tell the horror stories. Funny part is most conductors do not live that horror story. The most common is a busted one in the yard. Yeah, it was practice, but I have done it 4 times on 3 different cars in two days. Hauling that 83# thing back a few cars would not be fun, but this job is not for the weak, so why complain?

thefoyboy wrote:

EW-SETT wrote:its practice............so when its 0300 hours in the middle of nowhere and train goes into emergency........its dark, raining, and cold, and you have to walk back 75 cars to find out hogger busted a knuckle....!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I know I know........tell the horror stories. Funny part is most conductors do not live that horror story. The most common is a busted one in the yard. Yeah, it was practice, but I have done it 4 times on 3 different cars in two days. Hauling that 83# thing back a few cars would not be fun, but this job is not for the weak, so why complain?

My first was 130 cars back on a 135 car coal drag...

Close anglecock, recover the air, have hogger toss one into the ROW and ride up. Throw the knuckle onto the car and ride the shove back...

It wasnt cold and rainy when I did it... it was about 105* outside and sunny...

powerpro69 wrote:Call the Car department ...

Here's the car department.

We at the car dep. do these on a dayly basis and it's a piece of cake, however I can understand you guys on the train and out on the main, don't do it as often and therefore it can be a pain in the butt sometimes.

When your in the yardlimmits, yard with carman, then we will come out.

This as far as replacing the knuckle, you just have to do it a couple of times to get the feeling. As far carying the knuckle, your on your own. I know in the yard the conductor blanks the angle cock and pulll the train up, then lay the knuckle on the rear car and gome back to the rear portyion of the train. etc.etc. On the main ???????

Erwin

I agree with Burner. I've done this 2 times out in the middle of nowhere. Best thing to do is have the Hogger drop off the knuckle on his side, plant the red flag by it or some other identifying object, climb on the last car, have Mr. Hogger pull ahead till you get to the replacement knuckle, throw the knuckle up onto the coupler, sill-step, platform or where ever it will sit without falling off, and bring the train back to the break in two. Easy enough.

slchub wrote:I agree with Burner. I've done this 2 times out in the middle of nowhere. Best thing to do is have the Hogger drop off the knuckle on his side, plant the red flag by it or some other identifying object, climb on the last car, have Mr. Hogger pull ahead till you get to the replacement knuckle, throw the knuckle up onto the coupler, sill-step, platform or where ever it will sit without falling off, and bring the train back to the break in two. Easy enough.

Yeah this would probably work in most cases. However my first knuckle was 50 cars back and we had a red signal 10 cars in front of us. That was not a fun night.

Did it in class today, not heavy and really easy, pull the pin, pull the drawbar up, pull the knucle out an let it fall, put the new 1 an do some other stuff, as a few others said, they told us we can have the engineer toss 1 to the side, ride up to it, throw it on the car an ride back but have to keep a 50 ft distance between the cars and have 3 step protection.

Here's a bit of advice. They actually threw this one at my class as a bit of a trivia at the school. If you're only a couple cars from the end, if the knuckle on the last car is the same, swipe that one and save yourself some work. The example they used was on the main and heavy traffic.

I work mostly 2mt territory, I can just ask the spatcher to let a trin go by in the other direction and drop one off...

Here is some usefull information. Rotary coupler cars take a 'F' type knuckle something even trainmen with 30 years don't seem to know, plus on CSX NYC hoppers also take an 'F' type. At my location we've had a rash of knuckles and a draw head over the past month due to CSX trying to run 190 car coal trains. Even trainmasters don't have a clue as to which knuckle goes where, an 'E' type knuckle will fit in an F type draw head but it lacks the shape to drop the pin to recouple the train.