Thank you, Charlie -
For providing the details of what Tom Gildersleeve – whose photos Wayne re-posted above – describes in his slide show as one of the longest "flying switches" he has ever witnessed. IIRC, it was about a mile, maybe more, between the location where the pin was pulled and where the caboose joined the rear of the Farmington-bound freight. The caboose is moving on a long, very gradual downgrade, and could probably have coasted a few miles farther toward Farmington. Per Bruce's post below, it appears that Chama-bound trains were made up in the main yard well north of Carbon Junction, so I presume this "flying caboose" procedure would probably not have been used if the freight was headed to Alamosa.
But per Dave Grandt's post, apparently it was – at least once in a while
. . .
- El Abuelo Histœrico, Greengo y Curmudgeoño de los Locomoturas Viejos y Verdes,
aka Der Grossväterlich DünkelOlivGrünDampfKesselMantelLiebHabender
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/16/2017 12:00PM by Russo Loco.