Springfield (Amherst) highlight!

For me, the absolute, unequivocal highlight of the weekend was one of the smallest items (HO scale) at the venue. However, it created reverberations in the prototype modeling community. Yes, Virginia, we have a Klasing power hand brake! As Teri Hatcher said on Seinfeld, “They’re real… and they’re spectacular!” They are being produced by True Line Trains. The housing and bell crank are styrene while the hand wheel is finely etched metal. 

A few notes about the parts and their application are in order. They represent the Klasing Type 650-D power hand brake with a no. 646 hand wheel. There were changes over the years, particularly to the hand wheels; the version presented here is from a late 1942 drawing. Regardless, the wheels are still similar enough that the TLT wheel can simulate the earlier (or later) hand wheels - something is a lot better than nothing! The link to True Line Trains is here. For additional reading, see Railway Prototype Cyclopedia 10.

What follows is a rough listing of cars compiled by me that used the Klasing hand brake. Where I state exact numbers not known, that means not known by me, at present, not that it can’t be uncovered (I meant to write a blog post, not the definitive work on the Klasing power hand brake!) I will try to update this as information solidifies and incorporate it into a spreadsheet for easy reference. Enjoy! A big thank you to Darren and Randy from True Line Trains for pursuing these and to Gene Green for his encyclopedic knowledge of these parts, as well as to the Klasing family for sharing the information and their passion with Gene.

Cars equipped with Klasing power hand brakes mid-1930s to early 1950s:

• Cambria & Indiana 4700-4799 AAR Standard hopper (specific numbers with Klasing not known)
• Chesapeake & Ohio 133000-133499 AAR Alternate Standard hopper (specific numbers with Klasing not known)
• Chicago Burlington & Quincy HC-1 180000-180099 covered hoppers
• Clinchfield 1932 ARA box cars
• Duluth South Shore & Atlantic 17000-17099 Modified 1937 AAR box cars
• Escanaba & Lake Superior hoppers 4033-4041
• Gulf, Mobile & Ohio 32250-32399 AAR Standard hoppers
• Illinois Central 92000-93749 (specific numbers with Klasing not known)
• Louisville & Nashville 32000-33999 AAR Standard hoppers (specific numbers with Klasing not known)
• Louisville & Nashville 60900-61299 Standard hoppers
• Louisville & Nashville 69150-70399 AAR Standard hoppers (specific numbers with Klasing not known)
• Louisville & Nashville 76150-77649 AAR Standard hoppers (specific numbers with Klasing not known)
• Louisville & Nashville 80350-81949 AAR Standard hoppers (specific numbers with Klasing not known)
• New Haven 31450-31499 1937 AAR box cars
• New Haven 34000-34999 PS-1 box cars (exact nos. not known)
• New Haven 35000-35999 PS-1 box cars (exact nos. not known)
• New York Central 162000-163999 postwar AAR box cars (not known if entire series had Klasing)
• New York Central 165000-165999 postwar AAR box cars
• New York Central 868000-869999-series hoppers (exact nos. not known)
• Soo 75800-75898 40’ steel auto cars (even nos. only)
• Soo 42800-44098 Modified 1937 AAR box cars (even nos. only)
• Soo 136300-136398 Modified 1937 AAR box cars (WC; even nos. only)
• Soo 175000-series 50’ steel auto cars (WC)
• Southern 280050-280074 covered hoppers
• Southern 319025-319099 covered hoppers
• Southern Pacific A-50-12 50’ steel auto cars (64100-64174 only)
• Southern Pacific A-50-13 40’ steel auto cars
• Southern Pacific B-50-18 1937 AAR box cars (33120-33269 only)
• Southern Pacific B-50-21 1937 AAR box cars 83240-83739 only)
• Southern Pacific G-50-23 Composite GS gondolas (150000-150999)
• Southern Pacific H-70-4 94305-94404 covered hoppers
• Texas & New Orleans G-50-17 Emergency gondolas
• Texas & New Orleans H-70-4 4000-4049 covered hoppers
• St. Louis Southwestern 47000-series 50’ steel auto cars (not known if entire series is Klasing)
• St. Louis Southwestern 33700-33849 alternate center riveted box cars (exact numbers not known)
• Union Pacific B-50-21 welded underframe 1937 AAR box cars (184200-184299 only)
• Union Pacific B-50-24 alternate center riveted box cars (187500-188199-series; 188300-188999 [OWR&N]; specific numbers with Klasing not known)
• Union Pacific CH-70-2 101-500 covered hoppers (specific numbers with Klasing not known)
• Virginian 15000-15999 H-8A Emergency hoppers (specific numbers with Klasing not known)
• Wheeling & Lake Erie 61000-61499 AAR Alternate Standard hopper
• Wheeling & Lake Erie 62000-62649 AAR Alternate Standard hopper (specific numbers with Klasing not known)