Pulled tail
Encyclopedia
Pulled tail is the act of a guard or conductor
of a railway to apply the emergency brake
s where something untoward has been noticed. This could be an excess of speed in a section of line known to have a lower speed, or strange noises and shaking that might indicate that the train has derailed
or something has broken.
The soldiers did own up to pulling the emergency cord without good reason.
Conductor (transportation)
A conductor is a member of a railway train's crew that is responsible for operational and safety duties that do not involve the actual operation of the train. The title of conductor is most associated with railway operations in North America, but the role of conductor is common to railways...
of a railway to apply the emergency brake
Emergency brake
On trains, the expression emergency brake has several meanings:* The maximum brake force available to the driver/engineer from his conventional braking system, usually operated by taking the brake handle to its furthest postion, through a gate mechanism, or by pushing a separate plunger in the cab*...
s where something untoward has been noticed. This could be an excess of speed in a section of line known to have a lower speed, or strange noises and shaking that might indicate that the train has derailed
Derailment
A derailment is an accident on a railway or tramway in which a rail vehicle, or part or all of a train, leaves the tracks on which it is travelling, with consequent damage and in many cases injury and/or death....
or something has broken.
Other uses
In the days before modern electrical communications, pulling the tail briefly was a way the guard could communicate to the driver that say a conditional stop was required at the next station.Accidents preventable
Accidents preventable by pulling the tail:- Waterfall train disasterWaterfall train disasterThe Waterfall rail accident was a train accident that occurred on 31 January 2003 near Waterfall, New South Wales, Australia. The train derailed, killing seven people aboard, including the train driver.-Incident:...
- Eschede train disasterEschede train disasterThe Eschede train disaster was the world's deadliest high-speed train accident. It occurred on 3 June 1998, near the village of Eschede in the Celle district of Lower Saxony, Germany. The toll of 101 people dead and 88 injured surpassed the 1971 Dahlerau train disaster as the deadliest accident in...
- conductor fails to heed passengers complaint about strange goings-on. - Sutton Coldfield rail crashSutton Coldfield rail crashThe Sutton Coldfield train crash took place at about 16:13 on 23 January 1955 in Sutton Coldfield, a town now within the City of Birmingham, when an express passenger train traveling from York to Bristol, England, derailed due to excessive speed on a sharp curve.- Accident circumstances :Headed by...
- guard (conductor) made a brief brake application, but was reluctant to take control from the driver. - 2008 Chatsworth train collision2008 Chatsworth train collisionThe Chatsworth train collision occurred at 16:22 PDT on Friday September 12, 2008, when a Union Pacific freight train and a Metrolink commuter train collided head-on in the Chatsworth district of Los Angeles, California, in the United States...
- Engineer (Driver) did not report last two signals as required by rules, but conductor (guard) did not pull tail.
Accidents caused by pulling the tail
- Winsford (1948) - Some soldiers on leave pulled the tail (emergency brake) of the train in order to exploit a short cut to their home. It took some time for train crew to find and rectify the triggered brake. In the meantime, a following train ran past a red signal and collided with the first trains, causing casualties.
The soldiers did own up to pulling the emergency cord without good reason.
Tail pulled but nothing found
- Norton Fitzwarren rail crash (1940)Norton Fitzwarren rail crash (1940)The Norton Fitzwarren rail crash occurred on 4 November 1940 between Taunton and Norton Fitzwarren in the English county of Somerset, when the driver of a train misunderstood the signalling and track layout, causing him to drive the train through a set of points and off the rails. 27 people were...
- strange noises on second train, tail pulled, nothing found, train restarted.
No train radio and guard had poor view
- In the Violet Town railway disasterViolet Town railway disasterThe Violet Town rail accident, also known as the Southern Aurora disaster, was a railway accident that occurred on 7 February 1969 near the McDiarmids Road crossing, approximately 1 km south of Violet Town, Victoria, Australia.-Overview:...
, there was no train radio for the driver to report the position of signals to the guard, while guard in rear car would have poor if any view of the green signals. Note that signals change to red as the engine passes them, so that the guard rarely has a good view of yellow or green signals. It is not clear if any intercomIntercomAn intercom , talkback or doorphone is a stand-alone voice communications system for use within a building or small collection of buildings, functioning independently of the public telephone network. Intercoms are generally mounted permanently in buildings and vehicles...
connected the driver and guard.
See also
- ATPAutomatic Train ProtectionAutomatic Train Protection in Great Britain refers to either of two implementations of a train protection system installed in some trains in order to help prevent collisions through a driver's failure to observe a signal or speed restriction...
- Stop and examineStop and examineThe Stop and Examine rule was a United Kingdom Rulebook rule which applied on the former British Railways. It required the traincrew to stop a train and investigate the cause if they became aware of any unusual conditions which might endanger the safety of the train .The Stop and Examine rule was...
- Lists of rail accidents