Poling was inherently dangerous for several reasons, among them the splintering of the pole and the opportunity for the pole to fall out of one end and hit other trackside objects. In an effort to deal with at least one of these, the PRR as well as several others including the Reading, actually created "poling cars", with poles hinged to the car sideframe. These were typically based at a major yard, and not available to crews out on the line who needed to pole a car out of a facing point siding, for example. At least some of the poles were sheathed in metal or of metal construction as well.

Regards
Bruce Smith
Auburn, AL