Passenger Brake Operation

[CHUG]

Does anybody know when they started putting brake levers in passenger cars for passengers to pull if they want to stop and so forth. Once Lucy and ricky ricardo and the mertzs were coming back from california on the train and lucy pulled the lever to stop it to get ricky. Is there still one on amtrak and can anybody use it. Thanks.

[Redtail67]

I know they had them as far back as 1900 and I also know it was mandated by Law and still is. I do not know excactly when it was mandated by Law but along time ago.

[SteamGene]

It's not a lever; it's a cord.  I'm not sure if it actually activates the brakes or signals the engineer or conductor to actually do that. 
The last time I was in a train, the brake cord still existed and anybody can pull it.  But they have to accept the consequences of so doing, as it puts the train in emergency brake, IIRC. 
My.  Three periods and two capital letters.  Getting better.
Gene

[Guilford Guy]

The emergency brake is often a red handle attached to a cord. Usually conductors are the one who pull them, since they are for emergencies only. Passenger cars also have handbrakes. Pre- 1950's they were brake wheels on the outside. In the modern era they are cranks, in the vestibules.

[Yampa Bob]

Gene,
I counted 4 periods.  I would think the cord merely signaled the conductor.  Of course Lucy was a klutz and it made people laugh to see people flying around the car.  Do they require seat belts on trains?  Or are the only belts the little 1/2 ounce bottles of booze?


Bob

[Conrail Quality]

Gene,
I counted 4 periods.  I would think the cord merely signaled the conductor.  Of course Lucy was a klutz and it made people laugh to see people flying around the car.  Do they require seat belts on trains?  Or are the only belts the little 1/2 ounce bottles of booze?


Bob

Modern Amtrak trains don't even have seatbelts. Of course, neither do schoolbuses, but that's another matter entirely...

[Kevin Strong]

I don't know about "modern" Amtrak cars (Superliners, Horizon, etc), but the emergency brake cord/handle (I don't remember which) on the streamline-era cars on the Ski Train dumps the air on the train. Coming back from Winter Park a few years ago, one passenger had a few-too-many of those 1/2oz. belts, and decided to grab on to the emergency brake for balance. We came to quite an abrupt stop, managing to put a flat spot on the wheel of our car (naturally the one over which I was sitting). The conductor was none-too-pleased. I don't remember what happened to the offender, but our car attendant indicated that it happened more often than he'd like.

Later,

K

[CHUG]

Lucy was not a klutz you see. Its not like she fell on the brake lever she meant to use it to stop the train to get ricky and so forth. She also dressed like a man to get in rickys show and meet charles boyea not because she was a transvastite or put the wrong drawers on by accident. If your going from viginia to somewheres in new jersey that amtark dont stop at and you just jerk the lever when the train got there then ran off to where you want to go it sounds like its possible as long as you dont care about the ticket price being more then where your going and so forth. If the fuzz get called you can call it accident or misunderstanding if they catch you. Thanks.

[RAM]

I have also thought that the cord was just a signal system so the conductor could signal  the engineer.  The conductor could activates the brakes. 

[Guilford Guy]

I'm am 99% positive pulling the cord, directly dumps the air in the train brakes.

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

The emergency brake is often a red handle attached to a cord. Usually conductors are the one who pull them, since they are for emergencies only. Passenger cars also have handbrakes. Pre- 1950's they were brake wheels on the outside. In the modern era they are cranks, in the vestibules.

Once, coming back from Boston, I had one of those sitting right next to me. Too bad the conductor didn't put her in the vestibule. 

[Guilford Guy]

LOL, what train # did you come in on? Boston can be fun, in the vestibule you can see the crank, with a chain extending down of it, in each vestibule.

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

LOL, what train # did you come in on? Boston can be fun, in the vestibule you can see the crank, with a chain extending down of it, in each vestibule.

I don't remember which number it was. It was about a year and a half ago. It was a midafternoon train, and not an Acela.

The woman got on at Back Bay with her granddaughter. I had boarded at South Station. All she did was bitch, bitch, bitch--to no one in particular--about how she and her granddaughter, who was one row behind us, couldn't get a pair of seats together. I SO wanted to say, "Lady, if you'd got on a South Station where the train was empty, ..." but I kept my mouth shut and said nothing. Fortunately, she got off the train at New Haven.

[r.cprmier]

Hey Gene;
Where did Chug get his education...the Army?  (ha ha)

Rich

[TonyD]

And you guys don't correct 'crank' into the proper term 'ratcheting brake lever'? The pull string came out in the 1840's, went to a small bell in the cab, a sharp old photo can sometimes focus in on the cord strung thru all sorts of hangers. My local bus has that system to remind the driver. I really don't think modern -or rebuilt cars- have public access to the 'brake signal' anymore, just a few half hidden places the 'car attendent or client services representative' can get to in a hurry, yes I believe it dumps the air and signals the whole crew.