11-21-2009, 07:37 PM
It was for 2 reasons. It's kind of hard to walk from one car to another on the ground if the train is moving. In earlier days (Before air brakes) it was common for brakeman to travel from car to car over a moving train to set the brakes. One brakeman would be in charge of several cars and need access to the brakes on all of them. When the invention of air brakes came around the walkways and high mounted brakes were kept in place for the second reason. The need for the brakeman to see over the car while operating in a hump yard. Not all yards were automated so the brakeman had to be able to see where the car was going, and use the hand brake.
My other car is a locomotive, ARHS restoration crew