Know Your Rules

For suggestion or comments contact Mickey Cowling via E-Mail

I. We pull into a siding to meet another train, we are going to be on a road crossing. If possible, we need to avoid blocking this crossing over how many minutes?

A. 5 min.
B. 10 min.
C. 15 min.

II. We see a police car and we are pretty sure he sees us, so we're going to cut the crossing. If possible, how much room do we leave on each side of the crossing?

A. 150 feet.
B. 250 feet.
C. 300 feet.

III. 30 minutes later the train we are meeting comes and goes. By the way, we do have a head end and rear end device and we are on level track. We recouple to the rear portion of our train, we verify the pin has dropped and the coupling has been made before we couple the air. What do we need to do before we depart.?

A. Make an application and release test.
B. Make an initial terminal test on the rear portion of our train.
C. The crew members must know that brake pipe pressure is being restored before departure.

IV. Same situation as above except we are on a grade. What difference does this make?

A. Now we must charge the brake pipe to within 15# of the regulating valve setting before we depart.
B. Now we must make an Application and Release test before we depart.
C. Nothing changes.

V. Let's say we had to wait 2 hours and 15 minutes for the train we are meeting to arrive. Does this change our situation any?

A. It certainly does, now we make an initial terminal brake test on the rear portion before we depart.
B. We only have to make an Application and Release test.

VI. Refering to the previous question, is there any reason we can't recouple this train in about an hour or so, charge the brake system and then recut the crossing?

A. None that I know of.
B. If you know of any, please let me know.

When not teaching rules classes, Mickey works the 7:50 A.M. Hump Job in Fort Worth.

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