Hopper car doors.

[NW Mailing List]

AT River Rouge  (MI) Power plant the unloading house had two tracks that had pits below them with  grizzly bars.  Plant was build in the 50's so  set-up for 50 ton cars.
  Train crew would shove up a cut of hoppers, usually 100-ton PRR "Yellow Ball" cars the first car would go  to end of pit, second car only 3/4 would  be over the pit.  These cars had "Wine" door locks.  Guy on ether side would use a sledge hammer, knock the locking pawl out of the way than pound on the latch releasing the door.  Guys usually worked together.  After  the end of the car was mty, use a long steel bar and swing door closed.  Overhead in addition to the car shaker we had a crane with  a spud. so we could move cars if the train crew was else where.  Have the cars moved so we could get the end of the second car.  When car mty, make sure all doors closed and spot two more cars.  Do that for 100 car train.   Sometimes we would get a mixed train .  This was a train of all different cars and there was a variety of door locks and latches  Very hard to open and close after you figured how to do them.  Lots of bull work.  When the train crew pulled the cars out if there were big pieces of slate on the grizzly bars we would go down and pick them out.  New rotary car dumper eliminated all that except the big pieces of slate. Kenneth Borg
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