Air Brake Test
The K-35 Mikado ‘Dysie’ has rounded up three box cars and a ‘woody’ gondola for the return trip east from Whitter. No service westwards to Ela today. She’s going eastwards instead and will be staying in the Lumber Interchange for the night. The little red caboose is going on a midnight trip to the deep dark forests – with a rake of refurbished bulkheads (and a few bats) for company. The crimson cabin will be brought back by morning.
Even though the last trip for the day will only be one mile east, they are still doing an air brake test. This one is just a continuity and leak down-test at the caboose. It’s going to be about 15 minutes before they can skip along to the lumber yard pajama party. Two of the cars were parked on low standing air, and need to be ‘pumped.’ It takes 4 minutes per standing car simultaneously up to 10 cars – so it doesn’t really affect the pumping time much.
The cars will be parked overnight ‘on air’ and coupled to the loco. So, when the caboose it returned from the Timbertop Camp and coupled up, they can get out again in about 8 minutes – not including the loco oil-go-round of course. The cars will not get another walk-by inspection until the Atlantic Railway’s interchange train takes the outgoing cars away tomorrow.
Posted Feb 25, 2026, 5:35 AM UTC