Railroad Usage
The term also applied to the walkways on top of railroad boxcars. Originally, they were used by brakemen to travel from car to car to apply hand-operated brakes. With the adoption of the air brake this practice was abandoned. However the running board was still used as an observation point to pass hand signals to the train engineer when cars were being switched. The increased use of radio communication made this unnecessary. Today it is forbidden for anyone to be on top of a freight car while the train is in motion.
Read more about this topic: Running Board
Famous quotes containing the words railroad and/or usage:
“People who make puns are like wanton boys that put coppers on the railroad tracks. They amuse themselves and other children, but their little trick may upset a freight train of conversation for the sake of a battered witticism.”
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809–1894)
“I am using it [the word ‘perceive’] here in such a way that to say of an object that it is perceived does not entail saying that it exists in any sense at all. And this is a perfectly correct and familiar usage of the word.”
—A.J. (Alfred Jules)