Handbrake tool for railroad car

A tool for manipulating the hand brake controls on a railroad car, the brake controls including:

• a brake wheel having a front and a rear and including radial spokes supporting a rim, the wheel being freely rotatable about a rear wheel axis;
• and a brake release handle having an elongate shaft and a rounded free end;
• said tool comprising:
• an elongate handle having a longitudinal axis including:
• plurality of telescopingly coupled sections including:
• locking means for locking said handle at an extended position;
• a proximal end for gripping by a user;
• and
• a distal end including:
• a cavity adapted for receiving the rounded free end of the brake release handle for moving the release handle without slippage along the shaft;
• and
• a C-shaped collar for pivotally coupling said distal end of said handle to a spoke or the rim of the wheel such that a reciprocal motion of said proximal end of said handle may fully rotate the wheel;
• said collar including:
• a proximal side pivotally attached to said handle near a distal end by an axle extending from a lateral side of the handle such that said collar is freely rotatable by 360 degrees about a pivot axis passing through said handle substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the handle, wherein said collar remains on the lateral side of the handle during rotation of said collar about said pivot axis;
• a split for passage of the rim or a spoke of the brake wheel;
• and
• a central bore for retaining the rim or a spoke received by said split while a user turns the brake wheel with said tool.

A method of fully rotating the brake wheel of a railroad car;

• the brake wheel having a front and a rear and including radial spokes supporting a rim, the wheel being freely rotatable about a rear wheel axis;
• said method comprising the step of:
• providing a tool comprising:
• an elongate handle having a longitudinal axis including:
• a proximal end for gripping by a user;
• and a distal end;
• and a C-shaped collar including:
• a proximal side pivotally attached to said handle near a distal end by an axle extending from a lateral side of the handle such that the collar is freely rotatable by 360 degrees about a pivot axis passing through said handle substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the handle, wherein said collar remains on the lateral side of the handle during rotation of said collar about said pivot axis;
• a split for passage of the rim or a spoke of the brake wheel;
• and a central bore for retaining the received rim or spoke by the split while a user turns the brake wheel with the tool;
• connecting the distal end of the handle to the wheel by passing a spoke or the rim of the wheel through the split in the collar and into the central bore;
• positioning the connected distal end in front of the wheel such that the pivot axis parallels the wheel axis;
• reciprocating the proximal end of the handle so as to fully rotate the wheel.