RailRoad Sound bomb signal

825 Views 11 Replies 7 Participants Last post by CTValleyRR, Nov 8, 2019

SN95HotRod

Discussion Starter · Nov 8, 2019

Hi, I’m new to the forum. I was wondering about a story my grand father told me many years ago.. when he was a kid, he said he stole «*sound bombs*» that they used on the railway to alert the driver of a passing train of a danger or something of the kind. He said he detonated them in the center of the city... Do some of you know about those? I searched the internet and have not found anything. He obviously knew what he was talking about because he worked for the CN all his life and he stole the bombs from his fathers casing, (who also worked for the CN all his life). Thanks!

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Krieglok

· #5 · Nov 8, 2019

We used torpedoes on a regional railroad, where we had all dark territory.

Most railroads that used them would require two be placed in advance of an obstruction. When the train hit them, they were required to slow down to restricted speed or 20mph, prepared to stop at a red flag or red fusee some distance ahead...

Tom

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Krieglok

· #7 · Nov 8, 2019

They look like flagmans cases. They carried torpedoes, fusees and A red flag in them. The flag man of a train would take the case out with him when he had to get off the end of a stopped train and walk back a distance to warn any following trains that they were stopped ahead...

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Krieglok

· #10 · Nov 8, 2019

J.Albert1949 said:
You don't want to try fooling with torpedos "by hand".
Good way to get serious burns or something blown off.

Good advice!

The most use we got out of them before they discontinued issuing them, was to put bunches of them on the tracks on the Fourth of July and run them over with the yard engine...lol.

Tom

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