Thus, should a derailment occur, the rods would fall to each side of the rail, confining the car to the track and eliminating a runaway situation. Preparing the cross-sectional supports at Coe Studios for the gravity car's frame. No photos exist of the gravity car's wheels or brake systems. I mortised cast-iron brake shoes into the brake bars and lined them up with the wheel. The bars are adjustable with a nut and can bring the brake shoes up close to the wheels.
Springs keep the brake bars under tension, pressing the shoes back from the wheels.
The two brake shafts, one for each axle, are mounted in pillar blocks in front of the gravity car and transfer the movement of the gravity man's hand on the brake handles to the brake rods and so on. Apparently, slowing the gravity car required both hands at times. Forging brake handles from tool steel at Coe Studios using a 350-pound hammer. The gravity car's wooden structure is a rectangular frame made of 4' by 6' Douglas fir timbers, set on edge, crown up and out. Bench frames throughbolt to the frame.