Pushers out of Rochester Yard during NYC steam era

I'm reading Bill Kachler's "The Snowflaker" and he talks about trains heading west out of Rochester Yard for the Falls Road. Trains headed west and then took the wye at Ames St to get on to the Falls Road. Sometimes there would be 50+ empty reefers on the train for towns along the line and with that many reefers the train would need to be pushed from the yard for the first couple of miles.

Where was the grade that was hindering the train? As of yet, there has been no mention of other trains being pushed out.

Another story is how the yards north of the main and the yards south of the main in Rochester Yard were handled by different yard jobs. When a yard shifter (0-6-0 or 0-8-0) had a big cut of cars ready to move from the north side to the south (or visa versa), the crew called them "shanghais". There was a lot of waiting for the main to clear because these "shanghais" took a while to do.

Thanks.

Charles

Leaving Goodman St yard westbound, it's uphill for a mile or two. If a train was leaving the yard with maximum tonnage, a push was sometimes needed. This did not end with steam days. Often long drags for the west side required help. I recall one weekend afternoon when the West Base had gone home, and the East Base was running about 45 cars to the B&O. EB1 got the hind end just past the tower and died. Times were simpler then, there was no certification of engineers. With the Yardmaster at the throttle of the west base engine and a car inspector to pull the pin, EB1 got a shove to about the depot and was able to take the train from there alone.