I had a chance to visit the San Jose trolley barn at Kelly Park today… home to one horse car, and three street cars, the horse car and two of the street cars are chicken coop restoration projects, all now complete and running…

They are in search of cord for the signal gongs, and additionally are questioning how to splice said cord. They were taught (by Fred Bennett) to cut it at a diagonal and wrap the splice with thread. This September I saw Randy and Frank Hicks use a brass crimp on splice on one of the CA&E cars at Union.

What are people using for signal cord, how are they splicing it, where do you buy it? Similarly has anyone installed signal cord on an early coach, and if so what did you use for cord and fittings.

Randy only knows it's a brass crimp on the CA&E cars at IRM in Union because he saw me pull the cord out of the crimp on Member's Day...

If I remember correctly, there was a company, listed in my 1919 Electric Railway Dictionary which sold brass rope crimps, for trolley pole rope and signal cords.

I imagine they are all out of business though. You could probably fabricate one out of sheet brass or a brass cartridge casing. I've never investigated whether a modern version is available.

Why splice it at all? None of these cars would require hundreds of feet of length for a signal cord. If you want to add what would amount to a branch splice, the crimp or wrapping with other cord and sealing it should work. For joints requiring more stress, mariners used all kinds of 'woven' splices to serve in another cord. Ted Miles is the mariner expert here, for my money.

For trolley ropes we always prefer to use Sampson Spot brand rope and I THINK that, or a descendant, can still be obtained.

Bob Kutella

Buzzer and emergency valve cord has (or should have) a stranded wire down the middle, with the rope woven around it. That stuff is hard to find, and I have no idea how you would splice it effectively. The small brass crimps are obviously the way to go. If you have any 50' lengths, I'll buy them. One of the problems with ordinary rope is that it expands and contracts with the weather. Occasionally I've opened a car to find that the signal cord is as tight as a bow string, and the buzzer comes on as soon as the pole is put up. So it has to be adjusted. That doesn't happen with the wire core.

As an ex seabee I can add that Bob Kutella is correct. There are correct ways to splice line. The brass clamp is a repair in the marine world and I do not know what would be period correct for a trolley.

If a brass clamp is needed go a marine dealer or boat yard.

Hi Bob,

Yes Samson Spot Cord is available from Samson Rope:

http://www.samsonrope.com/index.cfm?ind ... 214&inst=1

What size cord is used on trolley retrievers?

Richard Wilkens

For signal and emergency cord the Western Railway Museum uses 1/4" diameter cotton braided rope with a wire core. Straight fabric ropes streach too much. Most cords are anchored at one end in a standard three hole cord anchor. When the rope is threaded back and forth throgh the three holes, it will never come loose. Very easy to install. At the other end where the connection is made at the valve handle, the rope is looped through the hole in the end of the handle and back on its self. Then the two cords are served with 10 to 15 wraps of tightly wrapped #14 bare copper wire. The ends are tucked in between the ropes to avoid any sharp ends. We have no applcations where a splice in the cord would be needed. Randy's description of a splice from Fred sounds more like what would have been used when round leather cord was used for signal and emergency cords. We are not using any leather cord at this time. Our issue is the color. Signal cord is green and emergency cord is red. At the present time we cook the rope on a stove for hours in fabric dye to get the proper color. I sure would like to find a source for predyed rope. The Museum purchases signal cord from McMaster Carr Supply Company, their part number 3849T45.

Thanks for the information - I didn't know the wire core rope was still being manufactured. I'll have to order some. As for the brass splice, it came with the car and I'm sure it must have been installed by the railroad, due to a rope breaking or something. You're correct that it shouldn't be necessary if you have the right length to begin with. Also, our cars have a brass hook casting on the switch end of the rope which clamps onto the rope so no serving or splicing is required, and it's easy to remove.

Randall and all,

i agre with what i am hearing: cut the rope to length and you avoid splicing it .

Sampson bread cordage can be spliced but it takes a special fid and advanced knowledge to do it.

I have seen a lot of street cars and Interurbans and I have never seen a splice; just a lot of broken rope.

Most of the time when you see signal cord or buses etc it is simply a crimp fastener of some sort. This is a carry over from the old street cars because the street car people were not sailors either!

Ted Miles

Some older cars used round leather belting for signal/emergency cords.

An example is Key System 561 at WRM, which was originally built as a New York elevated railroad car in 1887.

Round leather belting is still available from McMaster-Carr in fairly long lengths, so splicing is probably not an issue.

On 561, the end of the emergency cord not connected to the valve is terminated with an original brass hook with a tapered socket. A wood screw is driven into the end of the leather cord to expand it to fill the socket.

The other end (connected to the emergency valve) is terminated with #12 AWG bare copper wire wrapped through the valve handle and around the end of the cord.

Yes we have seen the round leather. As to splices, long lengths likely come with factory splices along the way since I cannot imagine a hide yielding more than 10 feet of material, unless it is cut like a spiral sliced ham. As well the thickness of cowhide might indicate some laminations for a 1/4 to 3/8 inch 'rope'.

Bob Kutella