A 1936 ETT for the Canada Division of the NYC has restrictions on train length when cars with K brakes were handled.
Steve Lucas.
when cars in it had K brakes--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, "devansprr" <devans1@...> wrote:
--- In STMFC@yahoogroups.com, "al.kresse" <water.kresse@> wrote:
Folks,
Maybe this a new subject?
Do we have any information on State Legist's attempting to
mandate
maximum number of freight cars allowed per train?
Andrew Dow's great N&W Coal Car book refers to that being a
driving
reason for building 120-ton and 90-ton "Battleship Gons" in the
late
teens and early twenties. Do we have copies of specific proposed
rules?
Were there Federal proposes also?
Al Kresse
Al,
I think I remember reading something about limitations in train
length
due to air brake performance. Not sure where I read it, but I
thought
the PRR, prior to WWII, had train length limits for K brakes because of concerns over the speed/effectiveness of air brake applications
in
long trains. Can't remember where the rule came from (I think it was 100 cars) - could be regulatory, or could have been self-imposed -
the
PRR had a few nasty runaways on the east slope just west of Altoona
in
the early 1900's. My aunt (born in Altoona in 1920) remembers
several
incidents as a child where runaways would crash into Altoona. Her father was a PRR shop foreman, so I think her recollections were likely accurate - my grandfather was a dedicated PRR employee (57
years).
I think the rule was relaxed as AB brakes came into use - and I thought I remember reading that the train limit could be exceeded if less than some percentage of cars were K brake equipped.
Could take me a while to remember the source of this. Anyone else?
