On the cover of the April MR there is a pole, what is it?

[dknelson]

I also recall seeing telltales on industrial sidings where the customer had a loading dock with a roof or awning that would hit a man on the roof of the car, or the car could be shoved into the building through a large door.  But those telltales were further away from the obstacle than is the one on the MR cover - and of course the speeds on the sidings would be much slower as well. 

I never had a chance to examine one closely - but they appeared to be pretty darn substantial and likely would knock the man down, not just "warn" him.

On the C&NW they were known as "Whip Guards" and their 1933 standards (reprinted by the C&NW Historical Society in Vol. 1 on their Standards Book) says "guards to be placed 300 feet from structure to be guarded."  The siding in my home town had it closer, perhaps 50 or 60 feet - again speeds would have been slow.  

The standard also makes mention of state laws that specified the placement of Whip Guards (telltales).  I was not aware of that.  The whips themselves were "No. 9 galvanized iron wire."  Ouch!  The end of the wire was to be "not less than 6" below the lowest projecting point of the structure to be guarded."  It further states that in the absence of state law dictating otherwise, Whip Guards would be placed "where vertical clearance of any bridge or tunnel is less than standard clearances for bridges."  

This might be more than anyone wants to know about telltales/Whip Guards but I found it interesting and learned something.

Dave Nelson

[doctorwayne]

Well, I haven't seen the photo, but from your description of it, it sounds as if it's a telltale. 
Back in the days when brakemen had to use the roofwalks on cars to manually set or release the brakes on freight cars, telltales were generally mounted on a post and bracket so that they were suspended at a set height.  From that bracket hung ropes, usually tarred, I think, to keep them from deflecting too much from wind.  These were placed to warn men on the car tops that the train was approaching an overhead obstacle, and they best seek a better place to be.  If the person wasn't otherwise aware of the approaching danger, the warning was physical contact with the ropes.

Here's a couple of scratchbuilt versions on my layout...

...although the one on the right looks as if it needs to be repaired.

Wayne

[ATLANTIC CENTRAL]

gdelmoro

Thought I saw something like this discussed here but I cant find it. On the cover there is what looks like a telephone pole just before the tunnel. There are strands of something hanging down.

What is it? When were they used?

 

Well that one looks a little tall, and very close to the tunnel, they are called "tell tails" and they are there to warn train crew members on the roof of cars about bridges and tunnels that would knock them off the roof walk. They were common when/where crew still walked the length of moving trains. 

Sheldon 

[BigDaddy]

Telltales.  Tichy sells them if you don't want to make your own.  According to their little blurb:

TELLTALES WERE USED TO WARN BRAKEMEN AND
OTHERS ON TOP OF CARS OF APPROACHING LOW
CLEARANCE CONDITIONS. THEY CONSISTED OF A SET
OF ROPES OR CHAINS HANGING FROM A CROSSBAR
PLACED SOME DISTANCE BEFORE THE HAZARD. THE
ERA IS 1900 TO 1965. HOWEVER SOME ARE STILL
STANDING TODAY.

part no 8164   $4.95

 Walthers has them too

# 304-8707  $10

 

 

[gdelmoro]

Thought I saw something like this discussed here but I cant find it. On the cover there is what looks like a telephone pole just before the tunnel. There are strands of something hanging down.

What is it? When were they used?