SANDING STATIONDid you know that a locomotive when starting up with a heavy load or going up a grade frequently needs extra traction? It gets this by dropping sand just in front of its wheels. But where does it get the sand? From Bernie's model railroad's sanding station, of course. Stored in the foreground sand box, it is shoveled into the chute in the building where it's dried. When the sand flows freely, it's blown up into the tower tank (just beyond) ready to be dropped into the loco's storage bins.