Pulled tail
Pulled tail is the British colloquialism referring to the act of a guard or conductor of a railway to apply the emergency brakes 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.
In the United States, local colloquialisms include 'pull the air' or 'big hole' as verb phrases describing this same action.
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:
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
No train radio and guard had poor view
- In the Violet Town railway disaster, 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 intercom connected the driver and guard.
See also
References