My wife used to work at a credit life insurance company. Over the
years, during the dying days of the caboose, a number of
brakemen/conductors were injured by the 'jerks' that happened with slack
action. Some injuries were fakes and some were real.
A former studio-mate of mine called me one day. He had been on a jury
deciding a case brought against the SP by an employee. By the time the
case was closed he had learned all kinds of terminology of the trade.
He said I would I have fit right in.
So that's the other side of slack action that I'm sure Bud, Bob and Gary
can attest too.
Bob Werre
On 9/13/12 8:06 PM, [email protected] wrote:
Gent's, I guess if your modeling a 100 car multi level auto carrier
train the KD802/808's would be right on the money. I always have a
good chuckle when this debate shows up. As equipment wears ,
especially cushioned control types, the amount of slack can be way
beyond the specs of the manufacturer. As for the longitudinal
movement of the cabin car, just model the Penn Central or other beat
up roads. You haven't lived till you went though East Conway
interlocking[and several others including Jacks on the middle PRR
middle div] at track speed. Anyway's, carry on guy's, I'm enjoying the
show.
Gary Carmichael
In a message dated 9/13/2012 12:58:12 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
Jim King wrote:
"His design permits Kadee centering without the annoying slack
action."
Annoying?? One of my favorite memories is seeing NYC Mohawks
(Mountains for you non-NYC fans) starting a 100-car train. The
loco would back up about a car length, bunching up slack. Then it
would pull forward, ever so slowly, taking out the slack car by
car. You could hear the clunk! clunk! clunk! as each coupler
became fully extended and each car leapt into slow motion. The
Mohawks' replacements, Alco FA/FB lash-ups, did the same thing.
Thankfully, this is one of the aspects of running trains on my
layout that I really enjoy -- starting a freight train and
listening to the slack take-up as the locomotive gradually moved
forward.
Lest you rebut by observing that the Kadee 802/808 centering
springs cause the caboose to constantly bob longitudinally, I
refer you back to my oft-repeated (in print as well as via
electrons) but little-heeded recommendation (supported by Kadee
themselves!) to substitute a knuckle spring for the too-stiff
centering spring.
Dick Karnes
