Dynamiters, snapshots, kickers and shooters...

Whatever nickname you choose they are all a pain. I had one in my train that would cause us to go into emergency after a five pound reduction. We had a short train, so my conductor and I decided to find to offender and cut the air out. After it was found and cut out we took off. I went to set my brakes up and of course they shot again. This was very aggrivating considering we had to take the time to find the one that was causing the trouble.
When we handled these same cars a few days before, we didn't have this problem. What's going on in the control valve that causes this? I have had a car shoot once after sitting for a few days then not have another incident. Besides cutting out the control valve, what else can be done to remedy this problem? Any tricks or tips? Car experts chime in.

Lots of freight cars now adays have load/empty rods linking truck to brake valve, that control the braking of that car.
So a few days or loading/unloading may make the difference.

DutchRailnut wrote:Lots of freight cars now adays have load/empty rods linking truck to brake valve, that control the braking of that car.
So a few days or loading/unloading may make the difference.

Makes sense. They were empty the first time we touched them, we only had trouble with them after they were loaded. Thanks.

not to forget the occasional dirt/forgien matter which gets into an open gladhand at an industry. Particles end up floating around the air line system and can get lodged temporarily in the valves causing a problem.

Where I work we have a trick, which sometimes works. Often kickers happen only on a fully charged train. What we do is to grab a minimum, then release it just after the air starts to exhaust. Repeat this a few times before leaving it on. This works like using the regulating valve, which is illegal. This way you can get just a few pounds off at a time.

Only problem was everytime I touched the automatic the air shot. I couldn't even draw off 5 pounds without going into emergency.