Fusse's & Torpedoe's

[Anonymous]

I'm reading John Armstrongs Track Planning for Realistic Operation
Third Edition and on page 32 fig. 3-2 Doubling the Hill he makes the statement
" the Conductor leaves the Fusse and Torpedoes on the track" OK who can
tell me what the Fusse's and Torpedeo's are[?][?][?][?][?][?]
Thanks Harv

[BentnoseWillie]

Fusees and torpedoes are warning devices used to alert train crews to reduce speed or stop. In Armstrong's example, they're being used to protect the part of the train being left on the main line as the hill is doubled.

A fusee is a flare, usually red.

A torpedo is a small explosive charge, sort of like a jumbo cap-gun cap. It's clipped onto the rail and goes BANG when a train passes over it.

I think in either case, one is a slow order, two is a stop.

[dknelson]

Both are warning devices that temporarily signal that a train is stopped and is blocking the main. Common in the era before good radios and not unknown even afterwards.
We have some real railroaders on this forum who may pounce at any error I make here but my understanding is -- a fussee is a flare -- like you see on highways when a truck is off the road -- that burns red. The flagman walks back 100s of yards from the back of a stopped train and lights a fussee that burns red for maybe 20 minutes. Any train seeing it is to stop pronto -- prevents rear ending. A fussee would have helped Casey Jones for example
A torpedo is a sheet of lead wrapped around the railhead. On the top is a charge of gunpowder in a sort of little pillow, like ravioli. If a train rolls over it it explodes with a very loud bang. Usually several were placed in a row so the crew of an on coming train would hear Bang Bang Bang. It had the advantage of lasting longer than a fussee's 20 minutes.
I was once out railfanning at night on the C&NW through West Allis Wisconsin at a place called Belton Junction. I sat on a battery box and waited for a train. I was not aware that torpedos were on the rail and when the train rolled over them .... well let's just say I was glad my apartment building had a laundry room that night.
I have told this story before -- was sitting on the same battery box one night (I went out nearly every night) and thought I saw a really neat hat on the ground near my feet. I bent to pick it up. It was not a hat! It was ..... a skunk.
Dave Nelson

[joseph2]

Also,a fusee had a spike nail at the base to help hold it upright.

[dehusman]

Actually the torpedoe is a warning and the fusee is a stop signal. Any time a train comes upon a lit fusee it has to stop. If its traveling at restricted speed it has to stop prior to passing the fusee. If it is traveling at track speed it has to stop as soon as possible. If a train hits a torpedoe it has to proceed for flagging distance looking out for a stop signal.

Dave H.

[Anonymous]

A fusee is a flare. Most are red, but other colors, such as yellow, have been used in railroad applications. Fusees are manufactured to burn for a specific period of time, such as 5, 10 or 15 minutes. Only a minority of railroad fusees have metal spikes.

Fusees can be used by a crew member to pass any lantern signal--they are much brighter than kerosene or battery-powered lamps, and can be seen at great distances.

A fusee found burning on or near a track is to be regarded as an immediate stop signal. After the stop is made, the operating rules specify when the train may start (e.g., immediately, or not until the fusee burns out). After the train starts, it typically is required to proceed at Reduced Speed (prepared to stop short of a train, engine or obstruction) for a distance of one mile.

Operating rules usually require 2 torpedoes to be placed, at least 150 apart from one another. The explosion of a torpedo, or torpedoes, is a signal to immediately slow to Reduced Speed (again, prepared to stop short of train, engine or obstruction) and not to increse from that speed for a specified distance.

[Eriediamond]

I wi***o add to all the above, that fussees are also used at unguarded grade crossings, for traffic warning during switching operations and I have seen brakemen use them like a lantern for signaling the engineer. Thanks, Ken

[eng22]

Note the flare on the crossing just in front of the loco. This is a spur to a paper company. The grade crossing is un-protected. The flare should alert motorists to the fact that there is traffic on the spur.


[img][/http://www.railroadfan.com/photos/index.php?Qwd=./userimages&Qif=PaperCompanyCrop.jpg&Qiv=none&Qis=Limg]

[BR60103]

Fusees could also be used as a train separation device. If a train was running behind schedule, the brakeman might toss a series of fusees on the track (from the caboose) to give them a 10 or 20 minute separation from a following train.

[Jetrock]

According to the company report, the conductor of the train Casey Jones hit DID put out fusees and torpedoes--Sim Webb, Jones' fireman, heard them, but Jones ignored them. Plenty of engineers more concerned with living to reach retirement than glory have heeded their warnings, though, and lived to tell about it--as did Webb, who jumped from the train before the collision.

[dknelson]

Interesting posts up above. I once saw a C&NW freight backing on the main -- caboose first -- and the crew had a fussee on the caboose back deck. This was in signaled territory.
Dave Nelson