In the late forties, my grandfather who was an engineer for NYC, gave me a wooden club similar to a baseball bat. I think it was to help stoke the coal. Is that correct and any idea what it was called?
Bob
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Sounds more like a brakeman's club. Using wood to stoke fires doesn't last long...
That makes sense.
Bob
That "club" was to assist in applying more force when winding-up those wheel type handbrakes, that were vertical, i.e. stuck up at one end of the boxcar, with the Brakeman standing on the top walk-way.
Club in use.
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Neat picture, do I really see a tie?
That's my grandfather! Dressed like him, anyway. Saved on my pc.
Thanks
hokie71 posted:Neat picture, do I really see a tie?
Several are visible.
hokie71 posted:Neat picture, do I really see a tie?
safety was not as important as appearance back then.
big dodge, what do you think? Probably one of the original, early clip on ties, I would guess.....along with a hard hat disguised as a fedora.
SMD4, I should be more precise.....neck tie? 
PS- don't you love the fleet of GN gondolas in the background?
is that a railroad tie?
I'll bet those brake clubs could also double as a nice deterrent toward aggressive transients, too. I know I wouldn't have hesitated to use one thusly if it came down to it.
Andre
