Pulled tail is the act of a guard or conductor of a railway to apply the emergency brakes where something untoward has been noticed. This could be an excess of speed in a section of line known to have a lower speed, or strange noises and shaking that might indicate that the train has derailed or something has broken.

See also

  • Stop and examine
  • List of rail accidents
  • List of pre-1950 rail accidents

Accidents preventable

Accidents preventable by pulling the rail:

  • Waterfall train disaster
  • Eschede train disaster – conductor fails to heed passengers complaint about strange goings-on.

Tail pulled but nothing found

  • Norton Fitzwarren rail crash (1940) – strange noises on second train, tail pulled, nothing found.


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Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulled_tail”
Categories: Rail stubs | Rail transport


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