Go Back   The Ford Barn > General Discussion > Model A (1928-31)

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-29-2020, 06:24 PM   #1
ericr
Senior Member
 
ericr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,542
Default Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

have you guys heard repeated stories about cars conking out on train tracks in the '20s and '30s? I wonder if they just killed the engine by letting off the gas when they panicked when they heard the Old 97 barreling towards them.


It happened to Dear Old Dad in the 1930s and he said the only thing that saved him was his Buick had both a floor starter and also a starter button on the instrument panel, which he hit and the starter was able to propel the car in reverse gear just enough to avoid the train.
ericr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-29-2020, 06:45 PM   #2
McMimmcs
Senior Member
 
McMimmcs's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Fort Gratiot, Michigan
Posts: 2,296
Default Re: Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

They had no money for entertainment so they made up far fetched lies to entertain one another!
McMimmcs is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Old 03-29-2020, 07:02 PM   #3
J Franklin
Senior Member
 
J Franklin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Oregon
Posts: 5,947
Default Re: Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

That ole Zenith float bouncing and sloshing over the tracks! OH MY!
J Franklin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2020, 07:38 AM   #4
77Birdman
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: North Eastern MD
Posts: 486
Default Re: Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

I have seen it many, many times in the movies, heck I have even seen a person or two tied upon them......spoiler alert, they always get off at the last moment!
77Birdman is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2020, 09:13 AM   #5
1928Mik
Senior Member
 
1928Mik's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Zanesville Ohio USA
Posts: 265
Default Re: Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

I heard stories like that from my Dad and his Model T. Nowadays I have heard about people blindly following GPS and when it says 'turn right here" they end up ON the railroad tracks.
__________________
1928 Niagara Blue Phaeton
1972 Olds 442 Convertible
1979 MGB

-Life's Too Short To Drive Boring Cars-
1928Mik is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2020, 10:43 AM   #6
DBrer
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2019
Location: Washington
Posts: 175
Default Re: Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)
Quote:
Originally Posted by 1928Mik View Post
I heard stories like that from my Dad and his Model T. Nowadays I have heard about people blindly following GPS and when it says 'turn right here" they end up ON the railroad tracks.
We are not the smartest species on the planet.
DBrer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2020, 03:54 PM   #7
Pete
Senior Member
 
Pete's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Wa.
Posts: 5,373
Default Re: Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

That is an engineer's worst nightmare.
I never hit a car when I was running but came within 6 inches of it once.
Pete is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2020, 05:01 PM   #8
Gary/IA
Senior Member
 
Gary/IA's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Ellston, Iowa
Posts: 247
Default Re: Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

I have a close friend that was very young when her mom's car stalled on the tracks. Her mother managed to get my friend out but the mother was hit and killed before she could get clear. It does and did happen.
Gary/IA is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2020, 09:45 AM   #9
barnstuf
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Cape Cod MA
Posts: 2,840
Default Re: Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

In the 1930's in my area there were no signal lights where the railroad tracks crossed the highway. I recall several accidents caused at night by drivers running into the side of the train cars as the train crossed a busy highway. People overdrove their headlights and did not see train cars crossing the highway.
barnstuf is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2020, 10:31 AM   #10
rocket1
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Midland Park,N.J.
Posts: 1,108
Default Re: Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

Don't forget the idiots that drive around the gates.
rocket1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2020, 03:11 PM   #11
J Franklin
Senior Member
 
J Franklin's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Oregon
Posts: 5,947
Default Re: Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

Quote:
Originally Posted by rocket1 View Post
Don't forget the idiots that drive around the gates.
I was riding on Amtrak at 70 MPH when a pick up drove around the gates after the train on the other tracks passed. We hardly felt the bump but four were killed and the truck was unrecognizable. We only can live by being vigilant.
J Franklin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2020, 04:02 PM   #12
ericr
Senior Member
 
ericr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,542
Default Re: Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

I am not sure that warning signals ("wig-wags") were all that prevalent in the '20s or '30s, except maybe in highly populated areas. AT some locations railroads would provide live-in shacks for employees who had gotten handicapped. These guys would either throw switches, or signal auto traffic about oncoming trains, etc.


Certainly the overall noise and whistles of steam locomotives would be terrifying to a motorist stalled on a track.
ericr is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2020, 04:38 PM   #13
mhsprecher
Senior Member
 
mhsprecher's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Takoma Park, MD
Posts: 2,811
Default Re: Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

It seems that stalling on the track wouldn't happen very often, but maybe. More likely no gates and people not paying attention.

Two stories I have. One, my grandparents were waiting at a grade crossing and my grandfather heard a noise from the train he didn't like, and backed the car up as the train derailed right in front of them. It happened around 1950 and they had pictures of the derailment afterwards.

Second story is that in Newark, Delaware where the the B&O tracks crossed Main Street, there was a little shed and a person came out and held a sign when the train was coming by. It was later replaced by a crossing gate. This was in the early 1950's.
__________________
1924 Model T Coupe
1928 Model A Roadster
1930 Model A Town Sedan
1939 Deluxe Fordor
1945 pickup
1951 Custom convertible
mhsprecher is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2020, 08:40 PM   #14
Ted Duke
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Fairfield, Virginia
Posts: 615
Default Re: Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

Quote:
Originally Posted by ericr View Post
I am not sure that warning signals ("wig-wags") were all that prevalent in the '20s or '30s, except maybe in highly populated areas. AT some locations railroads would provide live-in shacks for employees who had gotten handicapped. These guys would either throw switches, or signal auto traffic about oncoming trains, etc.


Certainly the overall noise and whistles of steam locomotives would be terrifying to a motorist stalled on a track.
There are still MANY crossings with just a sign. We have vehicles it near me several times.
Ted Duke is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2020, 08:47 PM   #15
MikeK
Senior Member
 
MikeK's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Windy City
Posts: 2,919
Default Re: Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

Today's crossings are hard rubber or neoprene moldings, or carefully cast concrete with steel guard channels paralleling the rails. They are close and level with the rails, and silky smooth to drive over without much need to slow down.

It wasn't that way back then! Rotten, rough and broken wood, rarely level with the rail tops. That required a much slower speed at some crossings to avoid bottoming out. If you were too chicken and lugging you could stall with a manual trans and get caught between rails. Then someone panics and floods the engine attempting a restart, something a modern injected engine will not do.

Of course, "Look" back then referred to down the tracks, not at your phone.
MikeK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-01-2020, 04:21 AM   #16
dumb person
Senior Member
 
dumb person's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: South pacific island
Posts: 1,724
Default Re: Anecdotes About Stalling on Train Tracks in the Model "A" Era

Watch this to the end. The very end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRC1GJkdxdA
__________________
<Link> This is how we roll<Link>

"I'm Convinced that no one really reads posts anymore; they just fabricate what they think the post says then ramble on about red herrings."--Bob
Outcasts rules of old cars
#1 Fun is imperative, mainstream is overrated
#2 If they think it is impossible, prove them wrong
#3 If the science says it impossible you are not being creative enough.
#4 No shame in recreating something you never had
#5 If it were not for the law & physics you would be unstoppable
dumb person is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements)


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:49 AM.