@dkdkrd posted:BTW, don't portray too much slack in the bell cord. I doubt the engineer...or fireman... would like to pull 4' of bell cord slack before getting a good 'ding-dong' going!
With everything else he's focused on it's no wonder that the cord eventually gave way to a small bell-mounted air cylinder for actuation.
Rich and/or Jack probably have a better perspective on the whole topic.
There' a fair amount of slack, as illustrated by IRM's 1630:
It's a simple matter to take up the slack in the cab. I never exerted much effort when ringing the bell manually. Yes, as a fireman you still need the cord occasionally, even with an air ringer. The engineer operated the air ringer.
Rusty
