Wooden handle

[NW Mailing List]

The item pictured in Mr. Baldwin's photos is a Brake Stick, a.k.a. a Brake
Club.  I believe "Brake Stick" was the catalog name used in the Company
Material Catalog.

It is/was used for setting and releasing staff type hand brakes.  Due to
the design of a staff brake, one could not get enough leverage to set the
brake effectively, by using the brake wheel alone.  The Brake Stick was
used much like a piece of pile is used to increase leverage on a wrench.
Every new hire Brakeman was issued one of these at the time I hired, 61
years ago, and every caboose had one on it, too.  Staff brakes were
replaced, over time, by the Ajax type hand brake, the hand wheels of which
were mounted vertically.

Brake Sticks were also good defensive weapons in a brawl, and were made of
Hickory.

-- abram burnett
Ancient Order of Mendicant Discalced Turnip Workers, Lodge #1
.
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