Tell-tales before tunnels, bridges

[NW Mailing List]

My bet is that 72 is a typo for 22. The purpose of a telltale was to 
warn anyone who was standing on the top of a piece of equipment that his 
head would not clear the obstruction which was coming up. N&W 
locomotives were up to 16 feet tall. Assuming a man's height as 6 feet, 
the two figures would yield 22 feet. Of course, a box car was not quite 
that tall, but we are assuming worst case scenario here. So 22 feet 
would make sense. Just a guess.   Jim Nichols

NW Mailing List wrote:


> I was walking along the New River Trail near the old tunnel near 

> Austinville; there is a restored tell-tale before the tunnel, with an 

> informational sign for visitors with a description of tell-tales and 

> why they were used. What was interesting was that the sign quoted N&W 

> rules which stated that a tell-tale must be used for any overhead 

> obstruction such as a bridge or a tunnel that was "less than 72 feet 

> above the rail head". Why 72 feet? I could understand 20 feet or even 

> 30 feet, but 72 above the railhead? Is this correct, and if so, does 

> anybody have any more info about this? Just curious,

>

>  

>

> Thanks.

>

>  

>

> Mike Weeks,

> Charlotte, NC

>

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