A large number of devices and tools are used on the railway, which the vast majority of citizens do not have to deal with in their lives. For example, at the disposal of railway employees there is also a device called a "drop shoe", which is used in situations when it is necessary to send the train down a slope. This raises the question: when in general may such a thing be needed and how does the mentioned device work?
In fact, there are several such devices. They differ slightly in the principle of operation and their device, but the result of their application is generally the same. Most often, the already mentioned "dumping shoe" is used on the railway to send the train downhill, there is also its analogue - the "dumping wit". The principle of operation of both devices boils down to breaking the wheelset of the train by creating an insurmountable obstacle, or to leave the wheelset aside, thereby provoking the derailment of the car.
In addition to the "wit" and "shoe" on the most important and potentially dangerous sections of the railway, there are dumping arrows - these are branches of the railway that allow you to redirect the train to the side. More often than not, this ends in disaster. Less often, the arrows lead the train to the siding. It is quite obvious that the use of any of the listed means causes very serious consequences. Why are such devices needed?
In fact, everything is extremely simple: "shoes" are used when the refusal to dump the train from the rails will lead to even more serious consequences and the railway employees have to choose less of two evils. For example, a freight train can be derailed, which for some unthinkable reason (for example, as a result of negligence or error) jumped out towards a passenger train and there is no way to stop the trains.
However, the working practice of using "wits" and "shoes" comes down to dropping from the rails not whole trains at all, but individual cars, which, due to human errors or some kind of malfunction, began to roll on the rails and there is no way to stop them. At the same time, a car that has gained high speed can crash into other cars or even a train.
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about why are they knocking on the wheels of trains after stopping.