Hey rails, since so many of you have listened to and helped me with problems I felt it time to give something back I came up with several years ago...As many MRRs are using those skewer sticks to uncouple cars...here is a neato thing: Go get those mini allegator clips at Radio Shack ..Clip one on dull end of each skewer...When you walk over to train to uncouple take clip off and clip it onto rail behind last car as a 'hand brake' to keep cars from rolling away as engine recouples to the string or one too-light car like the caboose..This is great too for keeping cars parked on a grade..clip is on rail behind them.. You can even put clip between two cars as engine then pulls pulls away after you have uncoupled a set of cars from below clip (hand brake ) going down grade..Cars won't now cost toward departing remainder of train. ...Finally, as you have, say, 3 skewers you will only use 3 clips..If your skewers are missing a clip it means one is still out there...It takes getting used to and like me you will most likely forget one...But all that has occurred is train hits it and stands there spinning wheels which you'll see quickly as you are the engineer of that train at all times anyhoo....It's like having set the hand brake on the car or string of cars...I'll guess someone out there over all the years of MRRing may have done this...But as far as I know I just may be the first... If you say you do this too or have seen it before I'll believe you... And It's not perfect..Sometimes you'll derail an immediate car you're touching..sometimes train will be out of reach to do this..But it's 95% of the time worked for me. You could even put a small piece of blue tape on clip handle to help find it... ..Again, if you do this, don't forget to 'release the hand-brake' when completing the pickup (to put it back on skewer)..
Candy, There's engineers out there doing this ... just not admitting it is all, and of course there are those that think it is dumb .... and would rather chase errant cars around. I saw the same thing almost on a logging spur , the ground crew loading the logs but a wood dog behind the trailing wheel set to keep it from rolling back ward when the jib poll set down the log ... for get the hand brake , too much work climbing up and down and wrassling the wheel . see the block of wood in the pic ? pleanty of wood lying around to make a dog .. use more modern type could use a flat tooth pic
