Brakesman

“ Brakesman are almost invariably selected from those who have had considerable experience as engine-firemen, and borne a good character for steadiness, punctuality, watchfulness, and “mother wit.” In George Stephenson’s day the coals were drawn out of the pit in corves, or large baskets made of hazel rods. The corves were placed together in a cage, between which and the pit-ropes there was usually from fifteen to twenty feet of chain. The approach of the corves towards the pit mouth was signalled by a bell, brought into action by a piece of mechanism worked from the shaft of the engine. ”

“ Connected with the fly-wheel was a powerful wooden brake, acting by pressure against its rim, something like the brake of a railway-carriage against its wheels. On catching sight of the chain attached to the ascending corve-cage, the brakesman, by pressing his foot upon a foot-step near him, was enabled, with great precision, to stop the revolutions of the wheel, and arrest the ascent of the corves at the pit mouth, when they were forthwith landed on the “settle board.” ”

“ Educate your men to feel that neglect of this wise precaution is just as mortifying as to appear in public without clothes. In shoving long cuts of cars without using air, get your brakemen and switchmen to feel a pride in setting a hand brake on the end car to take the slack and save the jerk on the drawbars. Work for the old-time feeling of chagrin that came to the calloused-armed passenger brakeman, in the days of Armstrong brakes, when he did not go after them soon enough and let his train run by the station. The men are not to blame for this loss of pride and interest. ”

“ The loungers on the platform at the station encourage him with shouts that put "spurs in the sides of his intent." The engineer leans out at his window and lets the engine whistle for him, and sometimes slackens a little, just by way of delusive encouragement. The brakeman on the rear platform seems to be putting on the brakes with might and main, to hold the train for him to catch it. Passengers beckon to him, and wave him on with hand and handkerchief. When he lags a little, the observers cheer him, and he dashes on in prodigious bursts of speed. Boys whirl up their hats and bet he'll win. ”

“ It then becomes impossible for a driver to run his train in ignorance of any defect in his brake apparatus because such defect at once discloses itself by applying the brakes and stopping the train. Thirdly, that each vehicle shall carry its own brake power in such a manner that the destruction of the brake apparatus on one or more of the carriages shall not affect the efficiency of the brakes upon any of the others. No continuous brake which does not comply with such conditions can ever be satisfactory.--The Engineer. ”

“ As a train moving at the rate of 50 miles an hour makes over 70 feet per second, a train of 50 cars would run half a mile before the brakes could be applied to the rear car. So, too, if the rear end of the train became detached from the forward end by the rupture of the train pipe or couplings, the brakes could not be applied at all, since the compressed air admitted to the train pipe by opening the engineer's valve would escape into the atmosphere without operating the brakes, or, if the brakes were already applied, they would be instantly released when such rupture occurred. ”

“ During a stop something may happen to the brakes so as to make them quite ineffective, or a portion of the brake mechanism may have broken. The driver who perhaps before luncheon has ascertained that his brakes are acting perfectly, after luncheon may start off in the same supposition, and perhaps not discover his error until, relying on his pedal brake to stop him in traffic, he finds that it has no effect, with the result that he probably goes through the back of a brougham. ”

“ The breeching is, or ought to be, considered indispensable in a hilly country, even with light vehicles, and is a proper precaution in all cases where women or children act as coachman.
Brakes are a French invention, and might be supposed to come under much the same strictures as the breeching. But while a breeching is useful and never out of place, except perhaps on the leaders where horses are driven in front of each other, the brake is so often misused, with consequent damage to the horse, the harness, the vehicle, and the skill of the driver, that it almost deserves a chapter by itself. ”

“ A fruitful cause of accident and of wear and tear of brakes, tyres and car generally, is the abuse of a good firm-holding brake. Maintaining high speed to the last moment and depending on sudden application of the brakes is a very bad and often dangerous practice.
The injudicious use of brakes or the rash driving which entails the excessive employment and the abuse of brake power, is not only to be condemned because it is so likely to cause the breakage of the brake gear, and so render a driver absolutely helpless, but because it is one of the fruitful causes of rapid tyre wear. ”

“ We are aware that it is the habit of some drivers to do what is known as 'drive on their brakes'—that is to say, rush up to an obstacle at full speed and then rely upon their brakes to prevent them from dashing into it. However brilliant it may appear to the uninitiated, the practice cannot be too strongly condemned; for not only does an exhibition of this sort try the nerves of the passengers on the car—however seasoned they may be—but it also produces a bad impression on the public, who, not appreciating the control the driver has over his vehicle, marvels at his apparently narrow escape. ”

“ About ten cars down they saw their friendly brakeman.
"That's the stuff, boys!" he shouted. "There'll be a smash-up if we don't stop the cars!"
He was twisting wheels with all his might. As fast as they could the two boys went from car to car, setting the brakes.
But in spite of their efforts, and the efforts of another brakeman besides the one they had spoken to, the speed of the runaway freight train increased. The grade was a steep one, and down the hill the uncontrolled cars rushed.
"I don't believe we're going to stop," said Jack.
"Shall we jump?" asked Mark. ”

“ The Deadwood stage coach was a thorough-brace, I believe. Another interesting out-of-date detail in the construction of this wagon was that the brake had no mechanical device for holding it in position when it was put on hard, and the driver had to rely upon his strength of limb to keep it in place. It seems that Green, in pounding these bits of leather in the spring, had badly crushed his left hand. He said nothing to me, and I did not notice that, contrary to custom, he was driving with his right hand, which he usually reserved for the whip and the brake. ”

“ To apply the brakes he turns the handle to such a position as to allow air to escape from the train-pipe; to release, he turns it to allow air to pass from the main or locomotive reservoir into the train-pipe, and thence into the car-reservoir. It is hardly necessary to say that the operation of the brake, which has been described for one car, is practically simultaneous throughout the train. The brakes on the driving-wheels of the engine are also automatically applied at the same time as those of the cars and the tender. ”

“ Thanks to automatic air brakes, the life of a passenger brakeman is now a very easy one as compared [Pg 136] with the same life a few years ago. The brakeman of those days, almost as greasy and smoke begrimed as a fireman, spent most of his time on the swaying platforms between cars amid showers of cinders and clouds of blinding dust. ”

“ When an average train—that is, two or three carriages and a luggage-van—is running down at the maximum speed allowed (fifteen miles an hour) , the brakes can pull it up dead within seventy yards. The pace is properly kept down to a low point in descending, and doing so, combined with the knowledge that the brake-power can easily lessen it, will tend to make the public look favorably on what might otherwise be considered a dangerous innovation. ”

“ Something or somebody had to be the victim of the honest brakeman's spleen, so, somewhat unluckily, as events determined, he took it out on the company and that decrepit car, now buzzing along with much complaint of axle and of bearing.
"Damn this old shake-down, anyhow!" said he. "The company ought to know 'nough not to have such things lyin' round loose. Some night it'll fall to pieces and kill folks." And with this implied apology for his aspersions of Recruit Foster, the brakeman bustled away. ”

“ Upon a long train of this kind, composed of 30 to 50 cars, a demand was made for quicker action in cases of emergency than had yet been contemplated, although, for ordinary work, such as checking the speed of a train while running, holding it at a slow speed on a down grade, and also for making the ordinary station stops, the automatic brake was still sufficient, and produced satisfactory results, even in the equipment of long and heavy trains. ”

“ But "braking by hand" is still the rule. In running on ascending grades or at slow speeds, the brakemen can ride under cover, but in descending grades, or on levels when the speed is high, they must be on the tops of the cars ready to instantly apply the brakes, for the reason that there are generally only three or four men to a long train weighing from 500 to 1,000 tons, whose momentum cannot be arrested very quickly. ”

“ As every car is equipped with two distinct sets of brakes, drivers should learn to use first one and then the other on long grades, and this may be helped out considerably by using the motor as a brake—that is, by cutting off the ignition and allowing the machine to push the engine under compression, and even more by engaging a lower gear before cutting off the ignition, so that there is a greater leverage obtained to retard the car. ”

“ Brakes.—Next to trustworthiness in axles, wheels, and steering gear the sufficiency and certainty of action of the brakes are of the utmost importance. So long as the axles do not break and the steering gear steers, an expert driver can rub along with very poor brakes until familiarity with risks and dangers leads him into a smash, or until some very near squeak makes him shudder when he thinks about it after he is in bed and the light out ”

“ The service brake should be kept in such condition that it will bring the car to a stop within a reasonable distance at any car speed, and it should be understood by the driver that the emergency brake is not intended to be used to help out the service brake which holds poorly when a quick stop is desired. ”

“ Every car carries at least two brakes of band pattern—one, usually worked by a side hand-lever, acting on the axle or hubs of the driving-wheel; the other, operated by the foot, acting on the transmission gear (see Fig. 48) . The latter brake is generally arranged to withdraw the clutch simultaneously. Tests have proved that even heavy cars can be pulled up in astonishingly short distances, considering their rate of travel. ”

“ His success in the field of railroad appliances had led him to study the question of better brakes, and the suggestion of compressed air came to him as a revelation. To stop a train by the old methods was a matter of much time and a tremendous expenditure of muscular energy by the brakeman, whose exertions were not always effective enough to prevent disaster. ”

“ On one of the famous scenic routes of the west there is a brakeman who has lost the forefinger of his right hand.
His present assignment as rear-end brakeman on a passenger train places him in the observation car, where he is the target for an almost unceasing fusillade of questions from tourists who insist upon having the name, and, if possible, the history, of all the mountain cañons and points of interest along the route.
One especially enthusiastic lady tourist had kept up her Gattling fire of questions until she had thoroughly mastered the geography of the country. ”

“ Mechanical brakes, worked by springs, friction wheels on the axle, chains wound on drums, or other mechanical devices, or by the force produced when, by reason of a sudden checking of the speed of the locomotive, the momentum of the cars causes pressure on the draw-bars or buffing Railway power brakes. devices. (2) Hydraulic brakes, worked by means of water forced through pipes into proper mechanism for transmitting its force to the brake-shoes. ”

“ Or else, he's going to get a job firing on an engine. He isn't right sure which he wants to do the most.
Now and then a brakeman goes by swinging his lantern. The boys would like to ask him what time it is, but for one thing they're too bashful. Being a brakeman is almost as good as going with a “troupe” or a circus. You get to go to places that way, too, Marysville, and Mechanicsburg, and Harrod's—that is, if you're on the local freight, and then you lay over in Cincinnati. Some ways it's better than firing, and some ways it isn't so good. ”

“ A. The air brakes should be released and a sufficient number of hand brakes applied to hold the [Pg 242] train. Never rely on the air brake to hold the train for any length of time.
200. Q. Why is it dangerous to repeatedly apply and release the brakes without giving time for the auxiliaries to fully recharge?
A. As time is required to charge the auxiliaries, the feed groove in the triple valve being small, if the brakes are repeatedly applied and released without giving time to recharge, the braking power will be lost. ”

“ As brakes are applied by the reduction of this air the engineman’s lever merely opens a valve that allows the imprisoned force to escape with a sharp hissing sound. If a train should break in two the connecting lengths of rubber hose would be torn asunder, and the outrushing air would instantly apply brakes to the cars of both sections bringing them to a speedy standstill. ”