Wheeltappers..................

When did wheeltappers finish in the UK?

While I realise that there are lots of safety issues about 'wheeltapping' how about a demonstration 'wheeltapper' on a preserved line/event? (Not in the 6 foot at Wareham!)

 

Do you mean just a bloke walking along the train wielding a hammer, or a real practical demonstration of the purpose of the operation?

There used to be just such a demonstration at the NRM- a wheelset with one very obviously cracked tyre which children (or adults, of course) could strike with the thoughtfully provided hammer. Like a number of interesting things at York, it eventually disappeared, no doubt due to H&S concerns.

Whilst providing something similar on a heritage railway seems a good idea, there are problems besides 'elf 'n safety, not least the fact that wheelsets are valuable assets. Finding one with a "ready-cracked" tyre is difficult and cracking/cutting one deliberately seems a bit wasteful.

 

In all probability it stopped due to modern materials not being suseptable to cracking as older wheels. Like many railway practices it probably went on for longer than was necessary. There is also the issue of a wheel tapper walking in the 6ft unless a block was put on the adjacent track'. The wheeltapper would only check one wheel on an axle in a station. Ultrasonic testing at depots probably finds cracks long before they could be heard

 

Indeed, I think ultrasonic testing was the main factor that made the practice redundant.

Thinking about it, I suppose that another reason for the wheeltapping demo having been removed from the NRM was that later generations, having never seen or heard it being done on the main line, wouldn't understand its significance. Probably means that it wouldn't now have much relevance to heritage railway visitors, either.

 

It was still a fun thing to have a go on though

 

There is one at Wirksworth on the platform, with one tyre cut right through and a hammer on a chain. I wonder if it is the NRM exhibit on loan?

 

The final programme was broadcast on 9th June 1977....

 

Isn't that all the more reason for preserving information about it, particularly within the context of a museum? After all, plenty of other things that are unlikely to have much significance to later generations but which are worth preserving. There is also a cultural significance, i.e. names, bits of poems and so on, that only make sense if you know that the practice once existed.

Tom

 

I couldn't resist posting this jokey photo we put in our LMSCA newsletter The Droplight, back in 2010.

Dave

 

I can recall the NYMR's then head of C & W going along the trains at Pickering one gala weekend with his Wheeltappers hammer by way of giving some extra interest to those waiting on the adjacent platform. It's one of those forgotten practices whose memory we should aim to keep alive - one of the lost sounds of the steam era railway akin to the gentle sound of steam hissing from steam heater couplings and drains.

 

Salisbury until the mid 1980's. Both up and down West of England services were checked. The Portsmouth - Bristol/Cardiff services were NOT checked unless the train crew asked for a quick exam of a particular coach.

Nowadays it would require a "Line blockage - between trains" of the parallel line but in those days I suspect it was arranged as a local signal box instruction. Perhaps is was given up when Salisbury was resignalled?

Cheers, Neil

 

Wheeltapping still carried out in Serbia. Caught the overnight train from Belgrade to Budapest last month, and the wheeltapper could be heard at the dead of night in Subotica.
Cheers,
Steve

 

I remember a demonstration set at Crewe Heritage Centre in about 1984 or '85. My teenage daughter was highly amused to be able to try her hand at the noble art of wheeltapping.

 

I have some sympathy with that view- up to a point! Having seen and tried the demo set at York twenty-odd years ago, we set up a redundant wheelset at Mangapps, only to find that there was little difference between the sound of the cut and uncut tyres. Why? Perhaps our "good" tyre was in fact already cracked, or maybe the professional C&W inspectors had particularly finely tuned hearing. Anyway, the realisation that the scrap value of the wheelset was over £200 at the time sealed its fate.

From an educational/museum viewpoint, the issue is interpretation. In order to interest current visitors, you must first demonstrate or explain the operation and its purpose in its original context, which means that a spare volunteer must be found to tap the wheels of trains and/or a written explanation will need to be provided, in the hope that visitors will be bothered to read it. Then the demonstration wheelset will need to be placed somewhere near the point where the wheeltapper operates, i.e on or near the platform. I question whether the resources required, human, spatial and asset, would be justified. I note that three locations of demonstration wheelsets have been mentioned, two in the past tense. Are any such demonstrations currently provided at HRs and if so, what are visitor's reactions? I would like to know, because if they are favourable I'd certainly be interested in having another go.

 

On the Harzquebahn last week the guard was using a wheel tapping hammer on most run-rounds....albeit to check that the brake blocks had released.

 

Looking at the bigger picture of interpreting railway history, I'm not sure that wheeltapping is in the top 10 ... or the top 100. "Cultural significance" - hmm. OK, it was a risk-reducing operation due to the quality of materials at the time. However, providing a reliable exhibit which people will be able to understand is a bit of a challenge, without 1 to 1 interpretation from a member of staff/volunteer. It can just become "something to hit", with the inevitable results to the hammer and exhibit.

 

Had to get that one in, eh Simon?

 

yep! name dropping....

 

I find the toe of my boot just as effective