Journal Hook
date: label: Date made
content: 1940s
label: date made
content: ca. 1940s
label: used date
content: 1900-1950s
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: To check oil level in the journal boxes of railroad cars and locomotive tenders. Each journal box had a lid; the journal hook was used by a car inspector and/or oiler to pull open the lid, check for adequate oil level, fill with oil if needed, and close the lid. (The "journal box" held the axle bearing, made of bronze, at the outer end of a railroad-car axle. Hence there are two journal boxes per axle and pair of wheels, and thus four journal boxes on a typical four-wheel "truck" or "bogie (UK usage)" that supports each end of a railroad car on the track.
label: Description
content: This tool is part of a collection of hand tools used in the inspection and repair of steam locomotives in Salisbury, North Carolina from the early- to the mid-20th century, roughly 1900-1955. Light repairs on steam locomotives were usually done in roundhouses at the many small locomotive terminals throughout a railroad's system; heavy repairs were done in a large, centralized repair shop serving the whole system (often referred to as the "Back Shop").
topic: label: Subject
content: Railroads
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Transportation, Railroad
label: See more items in
content: Work
label: See more items in
content: America on the Move
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
label: Exhibition
content: America On The Move
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of National Park Service
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2002.0075.01
label: catalog number
content: 2002.0075.01
label: accession number
content: 2002.0075
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Hook, Journal
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5 in x 28 1/4 in; 12.7 cm x 71.755 cm