Shunting, in railway operations, is the process of sorting items of rolling stock into complete train sets or consists, or the reverse. In the United States this is known as "switching".
Motive power
Motive power is normally provided by a locomotive known as a shunter in the UK or as a switcher in the USA. Most shunter/switchers are now diesel-powered but steam and even electric locomotives have been used. Where locomotives could not be used (e.g. because of weight restrictions) shunting has been done by horses or capstans.
A heavy steam shunting locomotive, SR Z class, Great Britain
A heavy steam shunting locomotive, SR Z class, Great Britain
In theater, a batten (also known as a bar or pipe) is a long metal pipe suspended above the stage or audience from which lighting fixtures, theatrical scenery, and theater drapes and stage curtains may be hung. Battens that are located above a stage can usually be lowered to the stage (flown in) or raised into a fly tower above the stage (flown out) by a counterweighted fly system or automated, motor-driven lift.
Types
Electric
An electric is a batten that incorporates electrical cables above the pipe, often enclosed in a raceway. It typically has power cables for lights and DMX512 data cable for lighting control, and may also have audio cables for microphones. The cables emerge from one end of the batten and continue through a snake to dimmers, control boards, or patchbays. All cable plugs have identifying numbers printed on them so that they can be easily referenced by the lighting control system. Loaded electrics are among the heaviest types of battens, often weighing more than a thousand pounds. Consequently, electrics must be properly balanced to avoid catastrophic runaways.
RAIL is a UKmagazine on the subject of current rail transport in Great Britain. It is published every two weeks by Bauer Consumer Media and is available in the transport sections of many British newsagents. It is targeted primarily at the enthusiast market (those whose hobby is railways, rather than their occupation), but also covers business issues, often in depth.
RAIL is more than three decades old, and was known as Rail Enthusiast from its launch in 1981 until 1988. It is one of only two railway magazines that increased its circulation in 2012 (the other being The Railway Magazine, published monthly, which RAIL outperforms overall). It has had roughly the same cover design for at least a decade, with a capitalised italic red RAIL along the top of the front cover.
Editorial policy
RAIL is customarily critical of railway institutions, including the Rail Delivery Group, the Office of Rail Regulation, as well as, since it assumed greater railway powers, the Department for Transport. RAIL's continuing campaigns include one against advertising and media images showing celebrities and others walking between the rails (an unsafe practice) and another against weeds on railways.
Peters announced a plan for two new rail ferries, with costs rising to about $3 billion ... The ferries would have “road and rail decks” which would load rail freight on and off the ships in “single shunt movements”.
The road-only ferries came out as more expensive than buying road and rail ferries ...Road and rail ferries mean we shunt large freight volumes in single movements, that saves time and time saves money.".
