Recent railroad reading introduced me to the term telltales (although I had seen them as a child). These were the wires or strips of rope (?) that hung from a wire to alert trainmen or brakemen that a low clearance (bridge or tunnel or other) was coming up and to duck down if they were walking atop the cars. Does anyone know if telltales are still in use anywhere today, or have they become a kind of railroad museum piece?
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
They are still in place in places. (Wickenberg, AZ and Richmond, CA come to mind).
That is the type with suspended chain. There is also the tripwire envelope telltales and the electric eye telltales in too many places to count (including old restricted overpasses and side clearance restrictions)...Had it not been for the electric eye type detectors, UP might have destroyed two of Ed Ellis' steam engines on flatcars headed to Alamosa via the Moffat Tunnel Route. There are still electric eye and trip-wire envelopes in the pacific NW and east of SLC.
Electric eye type telltales can be found at the throat of just about any intermodal yard working doublestacks.
What remains of a telltale still stands in Saranac Lake, NY, sans the ropes. It's adjacent to a bridge that was rebuilt with modern methods and materials, then covered with a "veneer" of timbers to make it look old...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
mudchicken Electric eye type telltales can be found at the throat of just about any intermodal yard working doublestacks.
To prevent dispatch of improperly loaded ( maybe not all way in well? ) double stacks from leaving?
True telltales were rope or wire hanging in such a way as to warn brakemen of upcoming low clearence. With larger cars, air brakes, and rules not allowing crews to work atop cars, telltales became obsolete. I am glad to hear there are some still hanging around, so to speak.
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The place I remember seeing tell tales was the north entrance to the overbuild, just below 125th St on the west side line, now Amtraks line into Penn Station from the north.
I do not know if the structure is still there or not. It was there as late as 1975 I think.
Rgds IGN
Photos by Ron V. Nixon http://muse.museum.montana.edu/rvndb/
Yep - even though it still happens on occasion (The Empress Container train in the CN Sarnia tunnels comes to mind)...some places can only accomodate an 8.5 Ft cube on top of a 9.5 Ft cube, as opposed to two 9.5 ft. cubes....the top container comes out looking like a mushroom or a funky loaf of bread that got out of the baking pan. Stops the movement ASAP and close the equipment to where it was loaded.
Some can still be found on the UP (ex CNW) Milwaukee sub between St. Francis and West Milwaukee.
I believe New York Central made their telltales out of cotton (clothesline) rope with a knot at the free end. They were suspended on both sides of a low clearance structure on all tracks, regardless of uni-directional signaling on multiple tracks, as local freights could be switching against the current of traffic. If these telltales got wet and froze, they'd really wake you up!
Hays
All of the replies to this post are appreciated, especially the photos. But BNSFwatcher's image of a poor brakeman being thwacked, probably on the back, by frozen or wet cotton, made me laugh out loud! I'll bet that would get one's attention!
Telltales must have been one of the few things a railroad made for itself and didn't order out of a catalog from, say, United Switch & Telltale.
NKP guy All of the replies to this post are appreciated, especially the photos. But BNSFwatcher's image of a poor brakeman being thwacked, probably on the back, by frozen or wet cotton, made me laugh out loud! I'll bet that would get one's attention! Telltales must have been one of the few things a railroad made for itself and didn't order out of a catalog from, say, United Switch & Telltale.
Come on guys. My poor dog wants to know why I'm laughing so hard. He runs up to me and gives me the "look".
In this day and time "Tell Tales" are somewhat anachronistic. The tell-tale structures were part of a time when men actually had to 'decorate' the tops of cars to preform the more serious functions of their jobs. Over the years clearances have been checked by using cars similar to this Rio Grande one
This car mimics the 'loading gauge' of the railroad. source linked here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearance_car
Here's a link to an ENSCO electronic measuring unit: http://www.ensco.com/index.cfm?page=325
When the UP's 3985 operated East on CSX out of Memphis, Tn. They had problems getting out of CSX's Leawood Yard. The exhaust stack gasses kept setting off the overheight electronic signaling devices under the bridgess, and it required a stop at each alarm, til they figured it out. Once that was done , it was track speed and get outa' town!
samfp1943 In this day and time "Tell Tales" are somewhat anachronistic. The tell-tale structures were part of a time when men actually had to 'decorate' the tops of cars to preform the more serious functions of their jobs. Over the years clearances have been checked by using cars similar to this Rio Grande one This car mimics the 'loading gauge' of the railroad. source linked here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearance_car Here's a link to an ENSCO electronic measuring unit: http://www.ensco.com/index.cfm?page=325 When the UP's 3985 operated East on CSX out of Memphis, Tn. They had problems getting out of CSX's Leawood Yard. The exhaust stack gasses kept setting off the overheight electronic signaling devices under the bridgess, and it required a stop at each alarm, til they figured it out. Once that was done , it was track speed and get outa' town!
As to exhaust gases setting the devices off, fireboxes have been known to set hotbox detectors off.
Johnny
Thank You.
samfp1943 And, if the car has part of it broken off, you determine where it was broken? It seems to me that there have also been cars made that had jointed rods fanning out that would be bent by close clearnaces
Quite a few "bamboo peacocks" are still out there. (Diningcar and I have had our experiences) ...Most clearance cars now use either photgrammetric or Lidar methodology....I see ENSCO is its usual backwards self.
Several years ago my wife and I were riding a Swiss train from Interlocken to Luzern. As I recall, it was a meter gauge line and part of it engaged a rack as it climbed over the mountains from Meirengen toward Luzern. I was watching the incredible scenery go by when a strange sight flashed by the window. Then we plunged into a short tunnel. I stood up ready to look out either side of the car hoping we would curve one way on the other as we exited the tunnel. Sure enough, we did turn and I looked back. The strange sight was there too. A short distance from the tunnel opening there was a pole with three of four simple straw brooms lashed to it horizontally to "sweep" back anyone foolishly leaning out a window or vestibule doorway so they would not get a shot to the head as the train entered the tunnel. Sorry, no picture. Maybe next time!
Deggesty samfp1943 In this day and time "Tell Tales" are somewhat anachronistic. The tell-tale structures were part of a time when men actually had to 'decorate' the tops of cars to preform the more serious functions of their jobs. Over the years clearances have been checked by using cars similar to this Rio Grande one This car mimics the 'loading gauge' of the railroad. source linked here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearance_car Here's a link to an ENSCO electronic measuring unit: http://www.ensco.com/index.cfm?page=325 When the UP's 3985 operated East on CSX out of Memphis, Tn. They had problems getting out of CSX's Leawood Yard. The exhaust stack gasses kept setting off the overheight electronic signaling devices under the bridgess, and it required a stop at each alarm, til they figured it out. Once that was done , it was track speed and get outa' town! And, if the car has part of it broken off, you determine where it was broken? It seems to me that there have also been cars made that had jointed rods fanning out that would be bent by close clearnaces. As to exhaust gases setting the devices off, fireboxes have been known to set hotbox detectors off.
Steam locos quite commonly set off hotbox detectors. I believe that, on UP, there are special rules allowing their steam locos to disregard a hotbox reading on the loco for this reason. Speaking of UP and hot stuff, their turbines used to melt the pavement if parked under highway bridges.
I never gave them a thought and didn't even know what they were called. I have movies of going under them from dome cars on Zephyr and UP City of St. Louis when we went through tunnels in CO and the Sierras. I also have a old pic of my conductor grandfather standing on top of a boxcar that someone took. Makes for an interesting pic, but very dangerous when they had to walk from car to car setting brakes.
Wait, "abandoned highway" or poetic license?
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