11-21-2009, 01:09 PM
Gary S Wrote:Steamtrains Wrote:I think the brake wheels were placed up high so the brakeman, who was walking the length of the train on the roof walks, didn't have to climb all the way down to set the brakes - just a few steps down, set the brakes, and a little walk up the ladder and go on to the next car....
That makes sense, but why did he have to walk the roof in the first place? Why couldn't he just walk on the ground? With low brake wheels?
He had to walk up there. That is where they rode when the train was moving. You see, before the invention of the automatic brake, brakemen rode the roofs of the cars. The length of the train determined how many brakemen you had. When the engineer wanted to stop or slow down he had a whistle signal that would notify the brakemen to apply the brakes. Then they would walk the train, jumping from car to car to apply the brakes.
OSHA would have a field day with such an activity today!!!
-Dave