SP 1900 The Montalvo Cutoff and The Gap

Old maps, newspaper articles and employee timetables describe Southern Pacific's Tunnels - Nos. 26, 27 and 28 on the Montalvo Cutoff. 

from: screencaps of, Map of the Route of the Southern Continental Rail Road, 1869. David Rumsey Map Collection. 

The 'original route of the Southern Pacific' is shown above in 1869. Back then, everyone was all: 'We're going round the Horn in sailing ships!' and 'Miners, Forty-niners and their daughters Clementine!'. 

San Francisco was the place where everyone went and it was where the Southern Pacific was headquartered. 

Someone looking at this map in 1869 asks:

You're not going to build to L.A.? Where? Los Angeles! Why? It only has a population of 5000.

Why have you built to San Diego, then? Because it's in our charter! We're supposed to build down the coast connecting San Francisco & San Diego. We'll complete that coastal route some day but going down the coast is too much to take on at this point. Look at all the mountains.

This is my last question, then. How well are your 1869 operations doing between San Francisco, San Diego, and beyond to the east? 

... Er ... well ... didn't that Rolly Martin Country blogger guy explain that 1869 map he decided to post? 

... Do you see, where it says Gilroy ... just south of San Francisco? See the red writing ... 'Completed'? 

... Right now we're very successfully running between San Francisco ... and Gilroy! 

... The rest of the map is ... very strongly ... projected.

 [Santa Fe reached San Diego in 1885. Espee gained access to San Diego in 1919.]

*  *  *

From the Official Guide of 1887

from: Official Guide 1887.

The Southern Pacific reaches Los Angeles! But look closely at the location of 'Los Angeles'. 

... In 1892 Collis P Huntington and the Southern Pacific started construction on the 4720 foot long Santa Monica Pier. It opened as the deep water port of 'Los Angeles' in 1894. Track was laid on the full length of the pier to serve the deep water anchorage which had been created. The pier included coaling towers as oil was not yet in use as a locomotive fuel.

In 1897, the federal government decided that San Pedro would become the location of The Port of Los Angeles. The dwindling shipping to the SP Santa Monica pier finally ceased in 1913. The remaining portion of that Santa Monica pier was dismantled in 1933.

Below are the officers, and the subsidiary railroads which made up the Southern Pacific. You can see some of the subsidiaries labelled on the SP route above.

from: Official Guide, 1887.

*  *  *

The Montalvo Cutoff

Background:

Part of my 'sudden' blogging interest in this area stems from having various types of contact with it. 

My sister, Allison, was at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara during the summer of 1995. 

Circa 1990, to urgently fill a hospital staffing gap, my spouse was sent to a week-long course in Los Angeles at the Terasaki Institute. I paid my way and went along for the ride. While she worked, I drove around. From Disneyland to Santa Barbara, I took in all the sights and reviewed attractions for her to see on her days off. At Long Beach, the 'Spruce Goose' was in the process of being moved, but one evening we did get aboard the Queen Mary. Our hotel was in Canoga Park and we did a daily commute along Topanga Canyon Boulevard. 

In the mid-1990s, to help evaluate a new hospital computer system, I was repeatedly sent back to San Bernardino. A group day off was spent in San Diego, another was spent around Palm Springs, and Santa Monica was another port of call. Walking back from the Santa Monica Pier, one evening, the head of our IT department was singled out by a loud confronting stranger for his part in a CIA plot. At one point we did an intensive and interesting site visit to one of Oxnard's hospitals. 

(At some point in the future, a Californian may discover this breathless account of local geography ... and find it amusing.)

It has been really interesting to learn the history of some of these places during the research for this ongoing series of posts. 

*  *  *

The fabulous employee timetable collection available at archive.org from the California State Railroad Museum has been a tremendous revelation during the last couple of weeks. 

Fellow railway museum volunteer Ross Robinson spoke very highly of this museum, and so much can be learned from just a brief amount of time spent with their timetable collection. 

*  *  *

Southern Pacific Employee Timetable From 1899 

Above: It would be great if all old employee timetables had maps! Particularly if the maps documented the construction progress of some of their lines as they were built.

As the Southern Pacific was not really near the coast of southern California in 1887 (see the Official Guide map, farther above), building well-engineered, direct routes in that direction eventually became a priority. 

The Montalvo Cutoff was one name for the project to connect Oxnard with Chatsworth Park. This would require significant rock cut and fill work, as well as costly and challenging tunneling through the Santa Susana mountains and similar features.

 

To show you that the old route was too slow, here are two timetables ...

The two timetables below show the route between: 

          Montalvo (near Oxnard) and Saugus. READ UP (Page 8).

And then between Saugus and Los Angeles. READ DOWN (Page 7).

https://archive.org/details/cscrm_2021_02_000244/mode/1up

A peculiarity of these two timetables is that the mileage distance in the column to the left of the station names is measured from San Francisco. As that era's inland main line reaches the Los Angeles region at Saugus, the mileages increase in both directions from Saugus. 

To borrow a helpful British convention, the trains departing Saugus to the west and to the southeast are 'down trains' from San Francisco - when considering the timetable mileages. 

The same timetable map, repeated below, for your convenience.

https://archive.org/details/cscrm_2021_02_000244/mode/1up

https://archive.org/details/cscrm_2021_02_000244/mode/1up

*  *  *

Newspaper Accounts of the Montalvo Cutoff Construction from 1900

This two first articles on the Cutoff (left) and The Gap (right) are illegible - see the transcriptions below the clippings.

When there were public timetable changes during this era, it was common to put them into a paragraph in a local newspaper.

from: Oxnard Courier, 14 July 1900. Google newspapers.

 Transcription:

"SOUTHERN PACIFIC CHANGES TIME

"The Line Now Operated to the Tunnel.

But Slight Changes Made in Trains Connecting with the Present Main Line.

The new time table on the Southern Pacific went into effect July 1st, opening the branch to the new terminus, Santa Susana. The only other change applicable here is the arrival of the morning train from the Ojai at 8:45 instead of 8:25. As before, trains leave Los Angeles at 8:50 a.m. and 3 p.m., arriving here at 12:35 p.m. and 6:45 p.m.; and leave Oxnard for Los Angeles at 7:15 a.m. and 5 p.m., arriving there at 12:10 p.m. and 8:45 p.m. Trains leave for Ventura and Nordhoff direct at 6:20 p.m. and arrive from there at 8:45 a.m.

Out over the new line the first run was made Monday and the return trip brought two passengers, one from Santa Susana and the other from Strathern. The stations and distances are as follows: Oxnard, 0 miles; Leesdale, 4.3; Sucrosa, 5.8; Camarillo, 8.8; Somis, 11.8; Lagol, 15; Ternes, 16.4; Moorpark, 19.3; Strathern, 24.1; Santa Susana, 29.7.

The train leaves here for Santa Susana at 12:30 a.m. and arrives at Camarillo at 12:45; Somis, 1:05; Moorpark, 1:45; Santa Susana, 2:20. Returning the train leaves Santa Susana at 2:30 p.m. reaching Moorpark at 3:05; Somis, 3:41; Camarillo, 3:51; Oxnard, 4:15. Moorpark is the station on the branch nearest Simi, from which a stage may be taken for Chatsworth, connecting with the Southern Pacific into Los Angeles.

A comparison of distances is interesting. Oxnard is now 501 miles from San Francisco, but the Coast Line when connected, will reduce this by 100 miles. The present route to Los Angeles is 92.41 miles long and the trip requires 3 hours and 25 minutes. The distance to Santa Susana is 29.70 miles; then there is a gap of from 6 to 8 miles, and the remainder of the trip from Chatsworth to Los Angeles is 39.40 miles, a total of 69.10, or a saving of 23.31 miles in the distance from here to Los Angeles, which is equal to nearly a quarter. If the same reduction is made in time when the new road goes clear through, we can reach Los Angeles in about 2 hours and 30 minutes. As it is now, even if connections were made with the Simi stage to Chatsworth, it would require 1 hour and 50 minutes to Santa Susana, an hour on the stage, and an hour and 25 minutes from Chatsworth to Los Angeles. The fare, too, would be higher. Via Saugus it is now $2.60; but the other way it would be $1.50 to Santa Susana, 55 cents stage fare, and $1.25 from Chatsworth to the city, or in all $3.30. The longest way around is the shortest and cheapest way across in this case.

If the occasion demanded it the Southern Pacific could arrange another route between this valley and Los Angeles, by shortening the time, reducing the rates and making connections between the stage and trains. Then we could advertise a new route to the city, avoiding the heat of Saugus, and in its place a delightful ride over the mountains, with their picturesque scenery and soft breezes."

End of Transcription.

... The Map Below and the Timetable Reflect These Changes

https://archive.org/details/cscrm_2021_02_000334/mode/1up

https://archive.org/details/cscrm_2021_02_000290/page/n7/mode/1up

*  *  *

DIGRESSION ON THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC 'GAP'

The Gap ... referred to the completion of the railroad line along the coast, west of Santa Barbara.

Together with the Cutoff, this would complete an efficient main line from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

Transcription:

"WORK ON THE S. P. GAP. 

[The stations appear on the long Coast Division map, below. This article is from July 1900.]

"Line North of Santa Barbara to Open November 1st. [1900]

The Santa Barbara correspondent to the Los Angeles Times writes about their Coast Line gap as follows:

If no unforeseen delay occurs, the Southern Pacific gap bids fair to be a thing of the past by November 1. The route from Santa Barbara to the terminal above Gaviota is covered by an army of 2000 men. With that force the grading can all be done by September 1, ready for the viaducts, of which there are six in the seventeen miles between terminals, comprising the gap proper. These immense structures must wait till the grading is finished and rails laid, because the massive steel material is too heavy except to be handled on cars. Between Gaviota and the Alegria cañon terminal, about two miles, two viaducts must be put in. As everything is ready for their erection it will be possible to lay the rails to Gaviota by August 15th. By the time the Gaviota viaduct is completed the southern terminal will be at Arroyo Hondo, where the last spike will probably be driven in October, leaving only track ballasting to complete the long-talked-of Coast Line. This can be done in time to establish a running service early in November."

End of Transcription.

The Gap in 1898.
https://archive.org/details/cscrm_2021_02_000182/mode/1up

More specifically, the Gap refers to the uncompleted section of the Southern Pacific line joining Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. On the timetable map above, you can see the extent of The Gap in 1898 using the map scale.

The Gap was closed 30 December 1900 and the line was opened for operations on 31 March 1901.

On the 1906 map, below, you'll find Santa Barbara at the bottom of the map. The line follows the coast up to San Luis Obispo, where it continues inland.

Southern Pacific Coast Division circa 1906
screencaps from: https://archive.org/details/cscrm_2021_02_000600/mode/1up

END OF DIGRESSION ON THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC GAP

*  *  *

BACK TO SANTA SUSANA/CHATSWORTH TUNNELS

https://archive.org/details/cscrm_2021_02_000334/mode/1up

* 1901 *

Railroad press releases often went out on the wires and were convenient to fill in newspaper column-inches.

from: Lewistown [probably Illinois] Democrat; 30 May 1901. Google Newspapers.

*  *  *

The Oxnard Courier was published 1889-1994 and has been a valuable source of information on this project.

The charming Camarillo [9 miles to the east of Oxnard] column includes commercial and social news.

The railroad information in this column starts at the hi-lite marks.

from: Oxnard Courier; 22 June 1901. Google newspapers.

* 1902 *

from: Philadelphia Record; 17 June 1902. Google newspapers.

* 1903 *

A Salt Lake City Newspaper ...

The Railroad Page: A Wreck on the UP and check your railroad stocks!

The Santa Susana/Chatsworth Tunnel (#26) breaks through!

from: Deseret Evening News (Salt Lake City); 19 August 1903. Google newspapers.

The train seems to have been running from Los Angeles to Chatsworth, 

but I could find no location named 'Driver' ...

from: Lewiston [Maine] Daily Sun; 6 October 1903. Google newspapers.

* 1904 *

Tunnel Opening

from: The Daily Californian [Bakersfield] 19 March 1904. Google newspapers.

*  *  *

The Tunnels on a 1903 Topographic Map

... and Today

The Santa Susana Tunnel is #26, with the shorter #27 and #28 just to the east.

from: Topographical Map, Santa Susan Quadrangle, edition of 1903.
https://maps.lib.utexas.edu/maps/topo/california/txu-pclmaps-topo-ca-santa_susana-1900.jpg

from: Google maps, circa 2026.

*  *  *

The Montalvo Cutoff 40 Years After Opening

Only twelve trains per day are scheduled on this timetable from the last few months of World War Two. The 80 miles of single-track Ventura Subdivision between Burbank Junction and East Santa Barbara are traffic-controlled by timetable and train orders. ABS signalling protects movements from collision. 

What the timetables do not show are freight extras carrying war materiel, and scheduled freights and passenger trains running in sections, and troop trains - also probably running in sections. 

Accounts of that period indicate that many veteran railroaders postponed their retirements ... and probably some came out of retirement. Experienced young railroaders were in demand - as the US military still considered that railroads were strategic to warfare on land.

These operations would have been something to see - particularly if we were watching over the dispatcher's shoulder.

screencaps from: Southern Pacific employee timetable 183, Los Angeles Division, 8 July 1945. archive.org
https://archive.org/details/cscrm_2021_02_001553/page/n1/mode/1up

screencaps from: Southern Pacific employee timetable 183, Los Angeles Division, 8 July 1945. archive.org
https://archive.org/details/cscrm_2021_02_001553/page/n2/mode/1up

screencaps from: Southern Pacific employee timetable 183, Los Angeles Division, 8 July 1945. archive.org
https://archive.org/details/cscrm_2021_02_001553/page/n19/mode/1up

*  *  *

Before the creation of Tunnels 26, 27, 28, Chatsworth station was the terminal for that branch.

This whole area was convenient for movie and TV producers from nearby Los Angeles to use.

With this YouTube link, you can see the second Chatsworth station with a rented train of SP equipment.

Hollywood Outtakes: the Ghost Train to the Empty Station

end

1936 Simeon Webb Remembers You Know Who

Many years ago, I read a humorous observation which probably appeared in Trains magazine. If only John Henry had had access to career counselling and skills retraining ... and Casey Jones had been actively engaged in a 'safety culture' which provided negative outcomes for exceeding speed limits ... things would have been very different.

My early knowledge of this legend came from inaccurate illustrations in childhood books and the 1957-58 Alan Hale Jr. series in reruns. Finding the account below was a welcome opportunity to review the events with the advantage of the on-line resources which only collectors might have owned in the past.

When we get down to the 1936 interview of Casey Jones's Fireman (re-published in 1953) you'll notice that descriptors of people who look different from George Washington have changed since then. If you read Jones's 1939 biography, you'll see even more 'typical' southern terminology used.

... People - if they want to identify themselves a particular way - should be the ones to choose the appropriate words for that purpose. 

Here is the photo of Sim Webb which appears in the 1939 biography of Casey Jones. 

There are several different accounts of the events which occurred at 0352hr, 30 April 1900 at Vaughan, Mississippi. There is not even agreement between the accounts on whether there was adequate rest time between trips, or whether Sim and Casey 'doubled out' with only one hour off duty that night. 

Memories may change over time. Inconvenient facts may be omitted. Or, as a person's circumstances change, they may be more free to talk about the experiences they had earlier in life. 

A cursory knowledge of recent railway rules would lead to the conclusion that a couple of safety practices were not rigorously employed to protect life and property, leading to the collision at Vaughan. 

from: Casey Jones, Epic of the American Railroad; Fred J Lee; 1939; Southern. archive.org

from: Casey Jones, Epic of the American Railroad; Fred J Lee; 1939; Southern. archive.org

The Biography written by a friend.

The biography of John Luther Jones (1864-1900) was written by a conductor - Fred J Lee - who had known him personally. When it occurred, 39 years earlier, Jones's accident was typical of hundreds or thousands just like it. Most of these accidents were prevented with the advent of electric block signals. However, the song created an enduring folk legend, back when popular culture didn't move with the volume and velocity of YouTube and TikTok.

The interview of Sim Webb about the collision was published in a widely-read railroad periodical three years before Fred J Lee's biography came out. It seems possible that Webb's account may have precipitated a more fact-based approach to the events and legend of Casey Jones than the song had offered. The book's reference data and source are shown in the the photo caption above if you want to read it.

Perhaps, being at or near the end of his career, Lee wished to revisit and document events which occurred earlier in his career - in the good old days. Perhaps he felt compelled to create this monument, which was done with the support and endorsement of Jones's widow. 

In his recounting of the accident at the end of the book, Lee provides no new insights on the possible rules or procedures violations which were responsible for the collision.

An Explanation for the Origin of 'Casey'

Jones's railroad career began as a telegrapher on the GM&O, but it was his life's goal (just like the rest of us) to become an engineer. 

The Welsh soldiers depicted at Rorke's Drift in the movie Zulu were given numbers to allow the British Army to differentiate between individuals with the very common family name 'Jones' ... and we can imagine to sort out all of the soldiers named 'John Jones' - one of a few very common Welsh names of the time.

According to Casey's biography, there were too many Jones to keep track of in railroad telegraphy as well, so John Luther Jones at Cayce was identified as 'Casee Jones'. As in: 'He's the Brockville Jones' or 'the Belleville Jones'. However, I don't know if anything in these paragraphs would survive a rigorous historical examination by a professional historian. 

*  *  *

from: 1928 Handy Railroad Atlas of the United States (reprint); 1928; Rand McNally.

On the night in question, Casey and Sim's southbound passenger train left Memphis (at the top centre of the map) and they would have gone off duty at Canton - just north of Jackson.

*  *  *

An earlier 1912 map (below) shows more detail of the Sardis to Canton segment (seen above). 

Below: Sardis is at the top, centre of the map. Canton is at the bottom, centre of the map. 

Vaughan is the third settlement north of Canton.

Another settlement 'Way' - south of Vaughan - is mentioned in Webb's account.

from: Industrial Review of New York (atlas); 1912; George F Cram.

The short account below appeared first in: Railroad Stories; Eldon Roark; March 1936; Frank A Munsey. 

Here it is reproduced from: A Treasury of Railroad Folklore; Botkin & Harlow; 1953; Bonanza.

The diagram below shows the general situation at Vaughan when the Fast Mail arrived.

Among the safety practices generally used to prevent a collision here would be:

• A long whistle at the mileboard for Vaughan - a warning of the Fast Mail's approach. 
• Using reasonable caution approaching a station where congested traffic (such as train orders suggested Jones might find at Vaughan) could have been expected.

• Flagging with an appropriate unobstructed view as seen by an approaching train. 
• Flagging a sufficient distance from the movement being protected to allow an approaching train to safely stop before reaching any equipment fouling the main track.
• Flagging signals would include torpedoes, fusees (if used), and a red flagging lantern. (In one resourceful case, a flagman concluded he had not been seen at night so he hurled his lantern into the passing cab - the sudden appearance of the broken red lantern globe alerted the engine crew of the danger his flagging was intended to communicate.)

The presence of a flagman was noted in the Superintendent's official report of the accident. This type of self-regulating operations review was usually the final verdict on minor accidents during this era. 

In Webb's account, you'll notice it was No 83's (unturned) marker lights which gave the first warning of main track fouling - not anyone's flagging efforts. No mention is made of torpedoes - although their use is prescribed in a 1900-dated maintenance of way rulebook for the Illinois Central at archive.org .

At the time, this was just another railroad accident with a relatively low toll taken on people and equipment. It has a significance to history because of the legend created by the song. In 1900, it was a relatively insignificant event ... except, probably, for any employees deemed to have violated rules. 

But ... if there was adequate flagging (as the survivors must have recounted) the only rules violation was speed. There was no one alive to discipline for excessive speed so no formal follow up was needed.

... RMS Titanic, LZ 129 Hindenburg, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 ...

With major unsolved transportation disasters which have faded into history, there always seems to be a nagging desire to really understand exactly how such disasters could have happened. At the time, any survivors gave their accounts and that was it. Without the necessary scientific tools, access to, or process to, examine the transportation vehicle at the time, people in the future are drawn into the mystery. 

We are a pretty small and specialized cohort - those interested in historical railroad disasters. 

Imagine having an investigative group to immediately attend the scene at Vaughan:

• Looking for evidence where the spent torpedoes had been placed.
• Checking the rails and driving wheels for metallurgical evidence that Jones's locomotive was thrown into reverse and where this occurred.
• Calculating the probable speed of the Fast Mail.
• Conducting skilled examination of the crews of the freight trains performing the saw-by moves to determine why a disabled freight train caused the main line to be fouled. Developing a timeline of what each employee was doing before the collision.
• Determining if it was an air hose or a broken coupler which immobilized one of the freights.

In the end, at least we have the RMS Carpathia's heroic efforts (and selfless acts by passengers of the Titanic) and Casey Jones remaining at his post until the end.

from: 3:52 AM April 30, 1900 (article in Trains); Robert B Shaw; May 1965: Kalmbach.

Here are a few more views of the historical environment back then ...

from: Casey Jones, Epic of the American Railroad; Fred J Lee; 1939; Southern. archive.org

The current on-line resources are very helpful in revising the childhood images of this event. One of the engineers on one of the trains at Vaughan (like Jones) knew telegraphy. The telegraph office at Vaughan was closed for the night. In spite of the significant presence of trains at the location, it was necessary for Gaffney to break in to the station to be able to notify officials of the accident so trains would be held ... and to receive their instructions on how operations should proceed.

from: History of the Illinois Central Railroad; 1900; Railroad Historical Company. archive.org

Casey Jones was in freight service for several years at Water Valley. This book is half history of the railroad and half biographies of past and current notable personages of the railroad circa 1900. This type of industrial documentation book anticipated brisk sales to the people profiled, with extra copies being purchased for family members. 

Now, or until recently, a Casey Jones museum has existed at Water Valley at or near the location of the main line - although there is no current railroad presence surviving there today.

*  *  *

from: History of the Illinois Central Railroad; 1900; Railroad Historical Company. archive.org

Also in this history is a photo of an engine similar to Casey Jones's own engine, the 382.

Unfortunately, the image is very dark and it was difficult to bring up much detail of the running gear.

*  *  *

from: History of the Illinois Central Railroad; 1900; Railroad Historical Company. archive.org

A typical caboose helps us imagine the one which suddenly appeared at Vaughan.

 

*  *  *

Above, a current Google Maps view looking timetable south.

The track may have been re-aligned since 1900, but today there is long stretch of tangent track before the line's long curve into Vaughan.

*  *  *

Looking timetable south toward the tangent section between Pickens and the long curve into Vaughan. 

A view of the current track structure. Pickens is shown on the 1912 map, above.

Seen in a Google Maps view from 2023. 

*  *  *

Current Google Maps view above Vaughan looking timetable north.

There are no village buildings visible at Vaughan

*  *  *

from: Casey Jones, Epic of the American Railroad; Fred J Lee; 1939; Southern. archive.org

end

1908 - The Progress of the Master Car Builders - 100 Types of Couplers

Coupler equipment photographed in Canada is included.

More pieces on railcar design evolution can be found by pressing the Railway Technology & Systems 04 'radio button' above ... and then scrolling down to the Railway Cars heading on that page.

This 1908 edition of Kirkman's Science of Railways shows technical drawings of some of the one hundred or so different variants of Janney-style couplers produced by different manufacturers. 

Figure 5 appears above. It is difficult to make it attractive as the left margin disappears into the 700-page book's deep gutter. However, you get the idea: The Master Car Builders are working through the painstaking process of achieving an initial universal standard which US railroads should follow. With longstanding cross-border operations, large Canadian railways interchanging with, or operating in, the US are affected by these decisions as well.

In the 1890 Congressional hearings, some railroads seemed particularly inflexible. The Pennsylvania Railroad representative spoke of the corporate standardizing mission of the legendary Altoona Shops pertaining to the wide range of products which the railroad purchased. He didn't seem particularly amenable to the idea of compromising on ... coupler designs to reach a national standard ... or the rate at which couplers would be converted on the PRR. In 1890, I think he said the Pennsy was 10% converted to Janney-type. (It seemed to me he was not a nuts and bolts operating person who was empowered to publicly commit to any particular course of action - unlike some of the other witnesses.)

Most of the text and diagrams which follow in the book (and which are not included here) are exhaustively technical and devoted to presenting to the professionals who bought this series of books, the exact testing procedures of the Master Car Builders for coupler standards testing: minimum batch size, number of samples from a batch to submit for testing, types of standardized tests (including repeated drop testing in a special device) to determine strength, drawbar rigidity, etc.

I am just presenting the diagrams showing the wide variety of designs. 

Imagine, if you were running a railway's spare part inventory ... the absolute impossibility of keeping replacement parts in stock for 100 different types of automatic couplers!

from: Van Horne's Road; Lavallee; 1974; Railfare.

On the CPR at Laggan (later Lake Louise) circa 1884, we see the expected link and pin couplers in use.

As previously discussed, end doors were used to load/unload 'full length' products, such as lumber.

A multi-storey boarding car can be seen at the left.

After the black bar in the image below (see Figure 114), we see two processes for making a coupling when knuckles are missing, or broken and removed.

As you will have noticed, all of the couplers above are notched in the middle of the knuckle, with vertical holes formed at the knuckles' outer end. A link could be inserted into the notch and it could be held in place using a standard coupling pin. The first image of Figure 114 shows 'the old way' of coupling by hand when faced with automatic coupler problems ... by using two pins and a link.

So that a brakeman does not have to stand in front of a moving car when both cars were previously equipped with functioning automatic couplers, the Hinson Emergency Knuckle can (theoretically) be used to make the coupling 'automatically'. 

This process involves first attaching the emergency knuckle into the defective coupler using a pin. Then the cars can be moved together to complete the coupling. The undamaged knuckle-equipped automatic coupler closes and locks onto the emergency knuckle. 

Again, this preserves the key safety feature of automatic couplers - that the brakeman does not have to stand in front of an approaching car with a link and pin in his hands to complete a coupling.

*  *  *

Above, is detail taken from the exhaustively-labelled car diagram below. 

In particular, the name 'deadwood' (item 57) was indeed an official part name. You may recall brakemen coupling link and pin cars generally had to ensure they were not crushed by the two protruding deadwoods as the cars came together. 

*  *  *

from: A Way to the West; Allan Bell; 1991; Privately published.

Above: Detail from the Canada Atlantic yard at Bridge Street in Ottawa, undated. In the few Canadian photos available in my books which show car ends for this era, people are often posing right in front of the coupling system!

The lumber car at the left shows a link and pin coupler pocket. It has a brake handwheel located to the left of the coupler pocket. The handwheel assembly is therefore one more crush hazard the brakeman has to watch for as the cars come together. 

The boxcar 2443 at the right has a link pinned in place. The draft horses have been by (watch your step) and, in fact, you can see a wagon with a draft horse being loaded at the right of the photo. A person seems to be taking a stroll along the roof walks on the next track over. 

A phenomenon I hadn't noticed before are the streaks of car oil on the ends of the 8944 and the 2443. The oil has leaked out of the journal wells onto the wheels and has been 'spun off' while the cars were in motion. 

If you return to the CPR Laggan photo, you'll see this phenomenon on the CPR car as well. 

*  *  *

from: Over the Hills to Georgian Bay; Niall MacKay: 1981; Boston Mills.

Above: The Canada Atlantic station in Ottawa in 1895. At the left, you can see a Maine Central car which has arrived in interchange, still with a link and pin coupler and (it appears) without an air brake hose. Cars were usually shopped for conversion to air brakes and automatic couplers at the same time.

Generally, during the transition period, air brake-equipped cars would be marshaled immediately behind the engine so the engineer had the maximum control over the train using all available automatic brakes.

*  *  *

from: Van Horne's Road; Lavallee; 1974; Railfare.

This beautiful photo shows a stock car which was probably retrofitted with Janney-style couplers and air brakes. Built as a stock car by the Perth Car Shops in 1883, the car is shown in 1901. Other cars with similar modern equipment can be seen in the background.

Notice the interesting tracked door on the end. Its travel could be limited to admit only a stock attendant and to prevent livestock egress. Half of this door is barred like the main doors.

Below the coupler, you can see the old-style outside brake beam which was sometimes a source of injury for brakemen as they worked to complete a link and pin coupling with an approaching car of this design. Bonus detail: On this occasion, this car is loaded with car wheels. 

I may well be wrong, but the little cylinder near the roofline ... atop the pipe rising behind the ladder ... may be a hard-to-read item 195 on the MCB standard boxcar diagram: 'pressure retaining valve'. Of course, modern practice is to locate retainer valve handles under the carbody. However, in 1900 and for decades to come - even with air brake-equipped cars ... brakemen often travelled along the roofwalks to relay hand signals during switching and to apply the handbrakes on kicked cars. 

... During a Canadian winter with snow heavily drifted along the tracks, the car roofwalks would be relatively free of deep snow ... and hopefully free from ice! When a train required retainers to be turned up or down, one could argue that time was always saved in winter by following the traditional route of the car roofwalks and adjusting the retainers from that location. Trudging through the deep snow along the roadbed can take a great deal of time and energy.