“Watch Your Step.”

Consider it: a train arriving at Thorndon yard is handed over almost in its entirety to a shunting gang at Lambton yard. Be the “rake” of passenger cars, trucks or wagons, it must be broken up and its component parts shunted off on to their respective sidings. That means first of all uncoupling—lifting the bridles and hooks that form the connections and “breaking” the Westinghouse brake links. A ticklish job at best with a moving “rake”; an unexpected jolt from a wagon, in a second of negligence, and a shunter's fingers are jambed and crushed. An engine-driver who keeps his engine steady is watching the welfare of the men out there on the tracks.

Then there is the “frog” to watch for. A “frog” is where converging lines meet and form a triangle. Catch your foot in that and the moving wagon is over you. But in avoiding the “frog” by the light of his lantern the shunter must also watch that he does not step backward into danger—or sideways or forward. Two eyes and a lantern are not too much to have.

Then there is “kicking” a wagon or a truck off the “rake” on to a siding, with the shunter riding the brake and clinging to the rungs of the projectile with strong, nerve-strung fingers.

Or “slipping” a wagon on to a siding—a hazardous proceeding, permitted only to experienced shunters. Here the wagons are uncoupled in motion, the engine draws the “slip” wagon ahead, then in a moment it is uncoupled, the engine rushes ahead, the points are switched over behind page 15 it to allow the slipped wagon to run up the siding, and switched back again to permit the rear wagons to catch up with the engine on the original line. It is an operation requiring great skill and exact timing for successful performance.

And what of jumping on to the wet steel skirt of a cow-catcher as the engine is moving?