Martin, that is indeed a poling car and it is used for moving cars on the track adjacent to the one the locomotive is on. The white pole is supported at a height that matches up with poling pockets on the car ends and it is pivoted in the middle so that it can pull or push a car on the next track. Using a poling car was much less dangerous than having a brakeman hold a loose pole in between the loco and car. PRR had quite a few of them back in the day.
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