Richard Bale article

Richard: I see you are listed as writing as "The Old Yardmaster"; I see you adopted Leighton Keeling's "handle" from the NMRA Bulletin under Whit Towers. At least there are two of us who remember. Al Wallace

Very nice

Enjoyed the article, since I have several of those wheels in my detail parts inventory I will likely now be able to use them in a more prototypical fashion. Although as you point out in your article wheels that were still useable were salvaged from scrapped cars and could be reused on newer equipment. Also had a older wheel been saved it could end up on a newer car that had a damaged wheel replaced.

Very informative and interesting. The first article I read when actually looking at the contents and choosing what was most interesting to me in this issue. Thanks for a very useful and well written article.

Rob In Texas

Good examination of the mainstream brake wheels

  Didn't recognize that older cars sometimes had other than the vertical shaft wheels though.  I've seen old cars with the brake wheels mounted on the car ends with a winder chain running down the end and I've seen old boxcars with flatcar type short brake staffs mounted on extended end beams.....DaveB

How high past the roof did the brake staff go up?

I really liked this article and it is very informative.  But, one item that I have trouble getting information about is the height of the brake staff and brake wheel above the car roof.  I think I read somewhere that it is supposed to be about 12 to 18 inches above the roof in the cars after1900.  I am pretty sure in the 1800's the staff stuck up a bit higher.  Does anyone know?

Regards, Vic Bitleris

Freight car handbrakes

What a wonderful, thoroughly researched and presented piece of documentation.  I model HO and like to build my rolling stock from kits  - I've learned a lot about RR cars this way, knowledge I otherwise miss when simply setting ready-to-rolls on the tracks.  I gotta say though that the brake systems gave the most difficulty to me, causing no end of frustration.  The light bulb is switched on!  Thanks, Mr. Bale.

P.S.  Have I been seeing some lever-actuated handbrakes on newer hoppers?

Freight car handbrakes

Lever-type handbrakes have been in general use since the early 1900s. They were/are especially popular in area of restricted space including on passenger and traction equipment. I have no plans to prepare an article on lever-type handbrakes but if there is sufficient interest, my plans could change. 

Richard Bale

Handbrake stems above roofline

Depends more on the gauge. Narrow gauge cars tended to have the brake wheels pretty high abov e the roofs. Standard gauge cars even back in the 1800's usually were closer to the roofline. Mostly a clearance thing.  Something that doesn't get modeled very much but many boxcars, etc., had "tunnel brake wheels" on the opposite end. They were usually a little larger than the main hand brake but wound a chain in similar fashion. Overhead clearances in tunnel tended to be pretty slim, so the tunnel wheel gave brakemen a safer way to tie 'em down when overhead clearance was tight.    See: "The American Railroad Freight Car" by White. 


 

Hand Brake article very informative

This was most helpful.  Thanks

Great Hand Brake guide!

Been waiting for someone to fill in this gap! Thanks for the good job. Between this article and the article on Freight Trucks several issues back, I can now narrow down the correct usage for specific eras.

Thanks a bunch!

Hand Brake Wheels

This is a very good article.  Now I don't have to make up some kind of excuse when I have "rivet counters" telling me that hand brake wheel is not what came out on the car.  "The car went into the shop for repairs"  HA...Thank you Richard...

lever-type handbrakes

Richard:

I am quite interested in lever-type hand brakes, especially as they apply to milk cars.  If you are not planning an article, would you be wiling to share what information you have gathered?  I have found a fair bit on Miner and Blackall brakes from the 1920s, but am wondering what other manufacturers might have been out there.

Thanks,

Dave Parker