Hand gauge for brake tests

Does anyone know where to buy the lightweight conductors/carmens brake test gauge that attaches to the end of the trainline? I know a company called Quantam used to make them, but i cannot even find their website anymore. I know UP uses the nice ones

http://www.stratoinc.com/detail.cfm?code=FDC500-95

The girl who took my order was hesitant about selling just one, I guess they're used to doing big orders. However, it didn't take long to get and worked perfectly.

Why do most class-1s' act as though these are pieces of gold? The time saved by equipping all conductors/brakemen with these little jewels would be considerable! Do the air-test on your pick-up, tie back on to your train, get your 5-down /5-up and blast off! No more lounging at the tie, suffering from the cold/rain/snow/sleet/ heat until the air is pumped up on a 10,000' train to get your set; should be standard issue for all trainmen.

Thanks for the quick responses. I too don't get why they don't make these things standard equipment for crews. Instead they make you lug a marker around.

As for Strato, they look good. Do you recall the price?. They are still different then the ones i saw though. The ones i saw were all aluminum, silver in color and weighed almost nothing. I have one from Quest and while it works great, it's made of steel and weighs about 4lbs.

I have feeling that if the RR's issued one with their lanterns, the majority of them would sit at home or get thrown into a river. I've only seen one old timer with one. He keeps it in a sock in his grip.

I keep one in my grip, handy as hell for these little pick up jobs, beats that big ole heavy EOT

all you got to do is ask a carmen for one. you dont have to buy them. most carmen can hook you up for like a 12 pack or something. take care of them and they will take care of you.

One more question about hand held gauges, is there a tonnage restriction on them?

powerpro69 wrote:One more question about hand held gauges, is there a tonnage restriction on them?

Tonnage restriction? Not sure I know exactly what you're referring to. Some roads (BNSF) require calibration.

Tonnage restriction? Not sure I know exactly what you're referring to.

haha, I'm not sure either, I had a manager questioning me about it the other day??

powerpro69 wrote:

Tonnage restriction? Not sure I know exactly what you're referring to.

haha, I'm not sure either, I had a manager questioning me about it the other day??

Who knows where those puppies are coming from!

We got ours from the MYO. Even got a handy pouch to put the thing in and carry on our belt. Sweet Huh.

On CSX we have them as standard issue, when you get your radio and lantern. They are nice to have. Save me lots of time.

usmcdevildog wrote:We got ours from the MYO. Even got a handy pouch to put the thing in and carry on our belt. Sweet Huh.

MYO???

NV290 wrote:

usmcdevildog wrote:We got ours from the MYO. Even got a handy pouch to put the thing in and carry on our belt. Sweet Huh.

MYO???

Moron of Yard Operations