Tinsley Marshalling Yard

[jamy]

Found these interesting links on youtube and thought I'd share them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b0Idml9mSs&feature=related Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSsfdfv6i2I part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AAMZbiuD1k&feature=related part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AAMZbiuD1k&feature=related part 4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AAMZbiuD1k&feature=related

 

[Dean_Forest]

Shouldn't this be in prototype talk?

Nice videos anyway

 

[Paulsw2]

Great vids - give a real 'feel' for how the railway was in the mid-60s.

 

[Dean_Forest]

I wonder what happened to all of those instruments (the punch card point controller etc.)?

 

[cascaderailroad]

WOW...those vertical piston type car retarders sure must have took a beating, and cost a bundle to service and replace...all 23,000 of them. I really was shocked to see a wooden paddle used as a manual friction hand brake, as a car brakeman ran along side hanging, on for dear life...and screw type hook & chain link couplers...lol...surely fatalities were common. Do freight cars now have brakes, real automatic couplers, and hump yard retarders that squeeze the wheel side, over the pond, like those in the US ?

 

[Dean_Forest]

surely fatalities were common

They were, as were pile-ups

Do freight cars now have brakes and real automatic couplers?

They do now (this was back in the sixties/seventies)!

Hump yard retarders that squeeze the wheel side, over the pond, like those in the US?

Hump yards are gone, block freights were introduced with fixed formations, the yards that survive are only used for stock storage etc.

 

[itareus]

Tinsley was more of a "bump" yard than a hump yard - most of the propulsion was provided not by gravity but by the Dowty "retarders" which worked both ways. This led to some interesting situations, especially with empty wagons when the wind was blowing (strongly) towards the hump - once started in the "wrong" direction the Dowtys happily propelled wagons back to the hump top.

Another interesting feature was the tendancy of the main Dowtys to fail under the pressure of the piped hydraulic system giving anyone unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity a very smelly shower. It used to be suggested that one day they would drill for oil on the site of Tinsley yard!

Happy days....