alignments

ne thing about railroading, there are always new things to learn. For example, I remember reading in a rulebook where a switchman, after aligning a turnout to the main, must stand on the opposite side of the track from the stand. I read that and was puzzled. Why such a rule? Finally someone answered it for me – there was apparently some horrible wreck that occurred somewhere when a brakeman aligned a switch to the main for an oncoming train. At the very  last second, he got confused, was certain it was misaligned, and he threw it point-blank in front […]