Nostalgia & History >

Picture 1 is from the following website,

http://digitalcollections.smu.edu/all

Picture 1, “Title: Ulster & Delaware, Locomotive 1, decorated with flowers. Creator: Unknown. Date: July 4, 1894. Part Of Everett L. DeGolyer Jr. collection of United States railroad photographs. Verso: handwritten, Ulster & Delaware R.R. (3'ga) No. 1. ‘Hunter’ 2-6-0 type. Dickson 5-1886 No. 530. Orig. S.C.&C.M. no 2. To U&D no. 1 in 1894. Note: Conductor's bell extruding from combination car over two box cars. Related Resources. MARC record: http://libcat.smu.edu/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=1855414. Keywords: trains; railroads; locomotives; workers; tenders; flowers. Physical Description: 1 photographic print: 14 x 20 cm.”

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Picture 2 is picture 1 enlarged 70%. Where is the Conductor’s bell?

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Wikipedia has a webpage on the Ulster & Delaware Railroad,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulster_and_Delaware_Railroad

Doesn't look 3' gage to me. It looks standard? I don't see the bell either. I sure can see the conductors beard(?) from 100' away, though.

flynn Wrote:
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> Picture 2 is picture 1 enlarged 70%. Where is the
> Conductor’s bell?


There was a spool of rope attached to the interior ceiling of the passenger car, which was run out of that car, over the roofs of the intermediate cars and attached to a bell or whistle in the cab of the loco. The rope can be seen running over the tender, below the feet of the man on the boxcar roof. About 1900 it became more common to use an air signal line on passenger trains instead of the rope.

Minneapolis streetcars had a similiar cord hanging from the ceiling (without the spool) for conductor to ring signals to the motorman (but not beetween cars since were not run as trains or multiple), and these remained in service until abandonment in 1954.

-LD

Thanks LarryDoyle for the explanation.

Although the text states that the use of conductors bell was pretty much obsolete by that time, the 1909 Car Builders Dictionary contains 3 pages of drawings of hangers, pulleys, sheaves, rope, couplings, etc for use on a bell system. One of those pages is attached.

No mention is made in the Dictionary of the spool, but if I recall correctly one of the historic cars at the Lake Superior Museum has one. I'll be up there next weekend and check it out, and take a picture if I can.

-LD



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/12 06:28 by LarryDoyle.

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This photo of Minneapolis-St Paul streetcar No. 1300 interior clearly shows the round leather bell rope along the lower edge of the clerestory. The handle to pull the rope is on the post in the doorway, just avove the farebox.

-LD



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/12 06:59 by LarryDoyle.

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