Pulled tail is the colloquialism referring to the act of a guard or conductor of a

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

to apply the emergency brakes when something unexpected 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. In the UK, colloquially the guard would ''drop the tap'' and the passenger ''pull the chain'' to apply the emergency brake.

Other uses

In the days before modern electrical communications, applying the emergency brakes briefly was a way the guard could communicate to the driver that (for instance) a conditional stop was required at the next station.

Accidents preventable

Accidents preventable by pulling the tail: *

Waterfall train disaster The 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. The accident is famously remembered by ...

Eschede train disaster On 3 June 1998, an ICE 1 train derailed and crashed into an overpass that crossed the railroad, which then collapsed onto the train. The crash occurred on the Hannover-Hamburg railway near Eschede in Lower Saxony, Germany. In total, 101 people ...

– conductor fails to act quickly on passenger's report of strange occurrence. *

Sutton Coldfield rail crash The Sutton Coldfield train crash took place at about 16:13 on 23 January 1955 in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire (now within Birmingham), when an express passenger train traveling from York to Bristol, derailed due to excessive speed on a sharp cu ...

– guard (conductor) made a brief brake application, but was reluctant to take control from the driver. *

2008 Chatsworth train collision The 2008 Chatsworth train collision occurred at 4:22:23 p.m. PDT (23:22:23 UTC) on September 12, 2008, when a Union Pacific freight train and a Metrolink commuter train collided head-on in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles, C ...

– Engineer (Driver) did not report last two signals as required by rules, but the conductor (guard) did not pull tail.

Railway Gazette International ''Railway Gazette International'' is a monthly business magazine and news website covering the railway, metro, light rail and tram industries worldwide. Available by annual subscription, the magazine is read in over 140 countries by transport p ...

October 2008, p755

Accidents caused by pulling the tail

* Winsford (1948) – A soldier on leave, himself a former signalbox worker, pulled the chain (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 soldier admitted to pulling the emergency cord without good reason. *

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 throug ...

– strange noises on second train, chain pulled, nothing found, train restarted. * In the

Violet Town railway disaster The Violet Town rail accident, also known as the Southern Aurora disaster, was a railway accident that occurred on 7 February 1969 following the incapacitation of the driver of one of the trains, near the McDiarmids Road crossing, approximately ...

, there was no train radio for the driver to report the position of signals to the guard, while the guard in the rear car would have a 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 An intercom, also called an intercommunication device, intercommunicator, or interphone, is a stand-alone voice communications system for use within a building or small collection of buildings which functions independently of the public telephon ...

connected the driver and guard.

References

Railway safety {{rail-transport-stub

Other uses

Accidents preventable

Accidents caused by pulling the tail

See also

References