red flag in the coupler

[Gnes 37]

any clue what this means? and whats up with those red/ blue flashers on the end couplers? educate a fool thanx

[sectorTVA]

i beleive the blue flag means that someone is working underneath or inbetween cars....not too sure about the red one....once a train is flaged it cannot be moved...the only person who can remove a flag, is the person who put it there in the first place.....

[Cracked Ass]

You have a couple of concepts muddled together. A red flag on the coupler of the last car is a substitute for a Fred or EOT device. I bet it was a short train, one that was servicing local customers not far from a yard.

The red flasher at the end of a train is an end of train device or EOT, which tells the conductor (electronically) how his brake pressure is at the far end of the train. The red flasher is a simple visual aid at night for walking workers. Hobos call the EOT the FRED for "fucking rear end device".

A blue metal flag attached to a SWITCH means repairs are being done either to that track or to a train on that track (I forget which), and that no movement is permitted on that track until the flag is removed. That is the one that may only be removed by the person who put it there, just so there's no chance of a misunderstanding resulting in somebody getting crushed.

[nocalfr8tr]

me and my paintin partner were leaving our yard one night, and as were rounding the end of a train that had pulled in the yard maybe an hour prior, we find these three jackasses trying to steal the flashing red light. we told em to get the fuck out the yard...woo hoo...i saved the railroad a bunch of change...well, at least it kept the yard from heatin up.

[sectorTVA]

thanks for making that a bit clearer cracked. as for the red flag replacing the fred on local runs to customers, the workers here dont even bother doing that....no red flag, no fred....just thought it was interesting....im sure CSX doesnt care much if they dont follow regulation for a short run to a local factory though....

[omone]

good info ive been wondering about those flags ive been seeing

[Gnes 37]

thats what i figured because some of the track was damaged and it usually is an active yard. but seeing the track and the flag made me think it was not gonna move so we mentioned to get a few day pieces in there. i know its safer at night but i had to get my metal fix on and had to work the next morning. yeah i didnt even try to remove it or look at it real close but it looked like a wooden stick, red vinyl flag stuck in between the coupler i think in the middle of the line of 10 to 12 trains yeah i see a couple variations of those fred units i also happen to see one that was in a blue case with blue flashing light it kinda resembled a latern with a metal wire handle it was easy to remove but i left well alone.