In the 1950s and before, and before walkie-talkies, a rear brakeman may walk several hundred yards behind his train to protect it, particularly if on a curve. When the go ahead is given, how was the rear brakeman informed such that he is not left behind?
On freights, was the job of rear brakeman made obsolete with the demise of cabooses?
RJ Emery near Santa Fe, NM
The rear brakeman was called back in by horn or whistle signals.
As I recall (I do not have a rule book here), there was a signal which told the flagman (rear brakeman) to protect the rear of the train. The headend brakeman cold also be told to protect the front of the train.
There were two signals for recalling a flagman: one recalled the flagman who was north or east of the train, and the other recalled the flagman who was south or west of the train.
In dark territory, the flagman may have had to go as much as a mile back of the train. Regardless of how far back, before returning to the train, the flagman was to place two torpedoes on a rail and leave a lit ten minute fusee. Any following train that came upon a lit fusee was to wait until it had burned out before proceeding.
Johnny
He was not referred to as rear brakeman - he was the Flagman and required to go behind his stopped train a sufficient distance to stop following trains by placing torpedos on the rail (small explosive charges with a loud report) that went off when run over by the following train, when recalled by horn or whistle signal he would leave a lit fusee in the gauge of the track his train was occupying. If a train arrived while he was in his flagging position, he was to signal the train to stop. A following train, observing the lit fusee was required to stop and not pass until the fusee had burned out. The Flagman, upon reboarding his train would drop a lit fusee at a specified interval until such time as his train had attained the maximum permitted speed for the territory it was operating. A train stopped by a lit fusee, after it burned out was to proceed at Restricted Speed for a distance specified in the Rules and/or TTSI.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
DeggestyAs I recall (I do not have a rule book here), there was a signal which told the flagman (rear brakeman) to protect the rear of the train. The headend brakeman cold also be told to protect the front of the train. There were two signals for recalling a flagman: one recalled the flagman who was north or east of the train, and the other recalled the flagman who was south or west of the train.
Horn signals for those and other situations on UP are listed in this link on the UP website.
In the movie, "The Greatest Show on Earth" there is a scene where the circus is moving by train in two sections. The bad guys want to rob the circus and hatch a plan to wreck the trains to cover it up.
They place a fusee and stop the first section. When the first section stops, you can hear the engineer whistling out his flagman with the proper signal. The flagman comes out of the caboose and is hit over the head by one of the bad guys. The second section ends up running into the back end of the stopped train.
Jeff
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