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  • Old Rider Hump Question

  • General discussion about railroad operations, related facilities, maps, and other resources.
General discussion about railroad operations, related facilities, maps, and other resources.

Moderator: Robert Paniagua

 #594665  by BR&P
 
On the NYC forum I posted a link to some old (1930's) footage of cars being humped at Dewitt NY. This was pre-retarders so each cut had a man riding to apply handbrakes. A couple shots showed the guys walking back up toward the hump to catch their next ride.

Somewhere I've seen pictures or movies of hump riders being returned to the crest on a speeder via a nearby track, rather than walking back. Anybody know which railroads or hump yards had such a set-up?
 #594754  by GOLDEN-ARM
 
I had a job riding cars at Oak Island, for a while. We had a hack sitting in the middle of the yard, and we were called on a squawk-box, to tell us what track, and what end the brake was on. We climbed through tracks to catch the ride, and climbed back when we were done. Port Reading had a "dumper" there, that used riders. You used to ride the car, after it was dumped, up onto the kickback, then it zoomed out into the yard, where you tied it down, then caught a ride back up to the dumper. Some guys rode one car, then they were "MIA" the rest of the shift, reappearing for a ride to the dumper, at the end of the shift. Philly had riders on the dumper there as well.