Passenger Trains > Identifying the B-end on a passenger car?

I know the B-end of a car is where the brakewheel is located and the direction the brake cylinder points.  Unfortunately, on a passenger car, both of these items are usually hidden or at least not visible in photos.  Even car diagrams like the one at the following link off Don Strack's Smugmug site usually don't show the brakewheel location:

https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-x2Q695Q/3/X4/i-x2Q695Q-X4.jpg

Is there another way to identify the B-end of an unfamiliar passenger car from an exterior photo?  On a diagram, is the B-end traditionally placed to one side or the other?  Thanks for any help.

Doesn't help that many streamlined cars have either truck mounted brake cylinders or disc brakes which means there's no body mounted brake cylinder to help you here.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/19 19:10 by PHall.

Some cars are stenciled "B-END." Don't know if that's a spec.
 
 

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Evan_Werkema Wrote:
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> Is there another way to identify the B-end of an unfamiliar passenger car from an exterior photo?

Only if it's a single-vestibule car - in that case you can be pretty sure the handbrake is in the vestibule.  Works for "heritage" single-level lightweight equipment, and not much else.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/19 22:38 by illini73.

I know the Elect Panel is on the B End , and I recall, that on Amfleet II cars, only Sliding Doors on Outside were on the B end, not to be confused with the other BN...............LOL

Also on Superliner I & II cars, the Batteries are on the B End, look for the Doors with holes to Vent Gas and on the other side on the B end is the Battery Charger 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/16/19 22:46 by miralomarail.

On the old-school equipment I’m used to, it’s like this: if there are handbrakes on both ends, the B end is the end with the retaining valve. We have two ex-SP coaches like this.

We have one car (ex-MKT) with handbrakes on both ends and no retaining valve. In that case it’s the end the brake cylinder points to.

On our two ex-SP cars with disc brakes, the B end is stenciled much as in the photo above.

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Amfleet 1 has A end for the toilets.  "A is for ass....." I was told in 1976.  

The B-end is the end that has the handbrake. If both ends have a handbrake, the B-end must be stenciled to indicate which is which.

Interestingly, private car Tioga Pass as built had handbrakes at each end. We removed the blind (A-end) handbrake. It was inside the car, and had it ever been set would have almost certainly resulted in a pair of flat wheels.

Just to be clear, I'm trying to determine how to identify the B-end of a passenger car in photos when the handbrake isn't visible, or in diagrams when the handbrake location isn't identified.