The Carving of Mount Rushmore

by Rex Alan Smith

61. Borglum in the tramway cage. The chain above his head is attached to the brake arm, which broke on the day the cage ran away and crashed. They were probably within about two hundred feet of the top of the mountain when the loosening set-screw finally let go. Instantly the cage began racing back toward the hoist house, eleven hundred feet behind and almost four hundred feet below. “Hit the brake!” yelled Peterson. Someone pulled the chain controlling the brake handle. The cage slowed, then stopped. Next, they released the brake slightly, and the cage began casing slowly downward. Then the brake started smoking. Its metal shoes grasped the cable with a pinching action, and the resulting friction was causing them to overheat. Kept engaged enough to make the cage move slowly and safely, the brake shoes would become red hot and soft and would fail. The only alternative seemed to be to apply the brake intermittently and try thus to come down in a series of spurts