Moo.....

[Anonymous]

I don't want to be to graphic, But Cws are the worst thing to hit on a train, especually jsut a low level Contol cab,

why you ask? Because they are full of S^%T!

Man, it's the biggest mess in the world.

[ironhorseman]

QUOTE: Originally posted by trainheartedguy

But remember, The first cow catcher was on the John Bull, one of the earliest steamers in the US, plus, at 20 MPH, I don't think you can splatter a cow, or am I wrong?

If you are refering to my comment on splattering I was refering to the big locomotives. But you'd be surpised then what even 20mph can do. Someone in our town, years ago, was either killed or seriously injured when their car hit a concrete post in the park doin 5-10mph. The sudden, instant, stop was enough to break or snap a neck or cause head trauma if the head where to hit something hard.

A train at 20mph, even the John Bull, could poke a cow with a spike like a hotdog. It's got weight and momentum behind it. (Think jousting in the medieval-renaisance age.) Going through the country-side there weren't too many fences back in 1820-18whenever. Especially out in the west with the buffaloe and cattle herds. The train would have to slow down and the angled cow catcher could help pu***hem off the tracks. At higher speeds the cow catcher on old 4-4-0 locos were more effective for maybe 1 cow at a time.

All this reminds of one of the stories in a book I have. From The Romance and Folklore of North American Railroads there's a short clip about a train running slow because of recent flooding. A passenger remarked: "Does this railroad company allow passengers to give it advice, if they do so in a respectful manner?" The conductor replied he guessed so. "Well then it occurred to me that it would be well to detach the cowcatcher from the front of the engine and hitch it to the rear of the train; fo, you see, we are not liable to overtake a cow, and what's to prevent a cow from strolling into this car and biting a passenger?" This story is attributed to Mark Twain.

Another variation of this story later in the book goes like this: "One old cow got her tail caught in the cow-catcher and she run off down the track with the train. The cattle bothered us so much they had to take the cow catcher off the engine and put it on the hind end of the train to keep the cattle from jumping up into the sleeper."

Looking at some of these old pictures I've noticed that these old cow catchers from engines of 1880 and before are very protective of the front pilot trucks of the locomotive. This is just a guess but perhaps this cow-catcher also prevented animals and other debris from getting under the loco and from running over things. Even though the old trains were heavy they were never heavy as trains today. If something like a large cow were to get under the old steam engine while the engine was doing track speed it could possibly derail the train.

So, keeping things out from under the train and the angle of the catcher prevents blunt blows to objects while at the same time pushing them aside is my best guess.

[Anonymous]

But remember, The first cow catcher was on the John Bull, one of the earliest steamers in the US, plus, at 20 MPH, I don't think you can splatter a cow, or am I wrong?

[ironhorseman]

Actually I've heard that before the cow catcher there were just two spikes in front to impale the cow. But when it took a block and tackle to remove the cows they changed to the "hit 'em and scatter 'em" cow catchers. If you think about it, the spikes where the real cow-CATCHERS, the grate like structure was more like a cow deflector. Why would you want a dead or dying cow attached to the train for the whole trip? If you notice the later and later in history you go and the bigger and bigger the steam engine the smaller and smaller the cow catcher. By then there was more cow control and the locos were more powerful and faster that the loco alone could do the job of scattering or splattering animals.

[mudchicken]

Dog Food Prevention Device = Cow Catcher (use similar to R/W fence)

Part of the game is to get anything from getting under the pilot and into the lead trucks of the locomotive and keep those front trucks from going rigid or derailing. I've seen a piece of well placed firewood derail an engine heavier than some steamers.....

[Mookie]

Decoration!

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I guess some boxcabs did have them. Would we consider the front of the Pioneer zepher a cow catcher or a plow?

[rrnut282]

Ah the wisdom of Red...

Looking at the miniscule ones on the "modern" steam locomotives, they couldn't have been functional. So was it a matter of the ICC regulations stating every steam locomotive had to have a cow catcher and never took the law off the books? Weren't som of the early boxcabs equipped with one as well?

[Anonymous]

But to re-assemble the cow, all you need to use the handyman's secret wepon........Duct tape! [:)]

[Anonymous]

" You know, I never knew how many parts a cow had untill I saw one disassembled".
Red Green [#oops]

[Anonymous]

Well.....at todays speeds I don't think they would work. By the time we got pacifics and Mikados, Most cow catchers were nothing more than small snow plow decorations. The cow catcher might work more like a knife at 50 MPH.

[Mookie]

Then they ought to bring them back!

[Anonymous]

...people who couldn't figure out what the whistle was for........

[BentnoseWillie]

More or less, yes. Cows, bison, horses...

[Mookie]

What were "cow catchers" used for on old steam engines? Cows - for real?