by flynnt
At the end of a commuter rail line, there is a metal apparatus by the track. It is yellow and from a distance looks like a set of clamps. As a train is approaching the end of the line, it stops, the conductor hops out and pulls a lever on the yellow apparatus, and the train then proceeds the last 200 yards the the end of the line. I have been told it is a derailer. The idea is that if a train is out of control, the derailer will derail the train...the thinking being a derailed train is better than a train the barrels through the end of the line.
Is it really a derailer, or something else?
Is it really a derailer, or something else?