Looking through the Library of congress Jack Delano RR photos and ran across an interesting item on the Indiana Harbor Belt in the 1940's.

http://www.shorpy.com/node/16280?size=_original#caption

Take a close look at the well used bat hung near the door. What do you guys think, a tool to rap for loose car parts, or a weapon to club hobos?

Original at the Library of Congress LC-DIG-fsa-8d24355 (digital file from original neg.) LC-USW3-013920-E (b&w film nitrate neg.)

Probably a brake club, and kept near the end door to be handy for cranking on the caboose's hand brake (which was likely NOT a geared-power-handbrake).

Howard P.

Buzz -

Can you (or anyone else) make out the lettering on what is probably the car coupled to the caboose? My screen is too small to make it out. It almost look like one word reads "DEPOT" but that doesn't seem to make sense, but perhaps it is part of another (longer) word. Any help appreciated.

Les

Yes that's a brake club, and there's also a flag above the door.

As for the lettering, I see "DEPOT" and above that "OFFICER" but I can't make out the rest, even after zooming way in.

-Philip Marshall

Yeah that is a brake club. Notice how slim it is compared to a ball bat. I would guess that if the wrong tramp climbed up on that car in the middle of the night...it might become a weapon very quickly.

In answer to the question about cab roofs...notice the roof of the caboose. It's pine. What is lost on most people now days is that all pine is not created equal. If you could source old growth "long leaf pine" from North Carolina you would likely find the ideal roof/ceiling material.

Long leaf pine was slow growing and hard as Billy be damned. You can count the growth rings and discover 14-17 rings per inch...compared to 7 or 8 per inch on the junk you buy as Home Depot. That slow growth makes a huge difference. They still repurpose this fine old wood from old warehouses, piers and so fourth. You will be surprised at the density and clarity of this wood...it makes excellent flooring. And all pine holds nails very well.

And back then they specified wood based on it's characteristics...not what was available locally. White oak would be great for exterior painted parts. The tannic acid in the wood along with the very tight, interlocked grain make white oak excell at getting wet and then drying out...over and over again. They use white oak to make barrels out of. Ashe would work too...if painted in well.

T7 sleeps and dreams about using the proper wood.

I think brake clubs were already kind of old-fashioned by the 1940s when Jack Delano was working.

This is from the December 1942 issue of Railroad Magazine:



-Philip Marshall

T7 -

A great book on long leaf pine is "Longleaf, as far as the eye can see!" by authors Finch, Young, Johnson and Hall. Tells about long leafs terrific qualities, where it is left, and the positive efforts to bring this great tree back to prominence.

Les

Interesting this picture is staged. Notice the flash clipped to the board in the upper right corner? I guess that was the only way to get it done, not enough light in there to get any detail otherwise. Also their overalls look to be crisp and new.

The various brake wheel turning bats, sticks, tools, etc.. were called a: Hickey or brake hickey,

There were iron and steel versions that had a half loop, or hook, on the end. It went through the brake wheel and hooked around the brake staff.

The modified baseball bat looks the neatest for us reproduction railroaders to use. The sight of a brakeman or conductor with that on his belt would sure keep those pesky railfans on their toes! (haha)

Years ago I saw a video from an old safety film from the GN, I think. The narrator said the reason to push on the brake club instead of pulling was in case it slipped off, you would fall forward and could grab the hand wheel instead of falling backward and off the car.

The item visible through the window is not the end of a car but a large crate. In typical Army fashion the three letter word at the top is "TOP", since otherwise it might not occur to whoever was loading the car to place the crate with the lettering right-side-up. The next line is indeed something or other Officer. It may be "TRANS" (Transportation). This would make sense as the post Transportation Officer was the nominal recipient of most cargo bound for the installation and it was his responsibility to deliver it to the final recipient. The first two letters in the third line the look like "PA" (Pennsylvania? but I am not really sure. It could as easily be GA WA CA or USA ) then a space then "QM" then "Depot". What we have is a truck sized crate on a flat or in a gon bound for an Army Quartemaster Depot somewhere.

GME

Thank you. That makes perfect sense.

-Philip Marshall

GME -

Thanks for your terrific detective work on what was just outside through the caboose door window of the Harbor's caboose! Sherlock Holmes...move over!


Les

I also like the tiny pinup hung vertically on the trim just to the right of the desk as well as the pinup calendar almost hidden behind the lamp. I think one of the crew must also have liked pointers. mld

Brake clubs were also used to release handbrakes. The brakeman used it to kick the "dog" loose from the teeth on the shaft of the older style brakes. I was also used to kick the dog into position to set the brake.