Unknown Warrior Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 Just in case it is not clear from all the above, it is only possible to gravity shunt with a brake coach that has a hand brake. Once the strings have been pulled there is no way of operating the vacuum brakes when a locomotive is not attached. Unlike goods wagons which usually have a hand brake, ordinary coaches do not. Therefore it is vital to put a chock under the wheel (downhill side at least) of an ordinary coach when it is not attached to a brake coach, especially when shunting. The slightest touch when buffering up can be enough to set a coach moving when buffering up, not recommended. When leaving any rake of coaches for any length of time, certainly when they are parked up, it is wise to chock some of the wheels. Needless to say it also important to check that all chocks are removed before trying to move the coaches at a later date! In the modern "Health and Safety" world gravity shunting tends to be avoided! At the Heritage Railway I work at we tend to be particularly careful as there are very few sections of level track! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brianusa Posted February 11, 2015 Share Posted February 11, 2015 And I thought that Yelverton was the only place where such a thing happened! Brian. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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