AtD translation: brakebeam stiff

[Ian Livingston]

A brake beam is a part of the braking system of a train. In early trains, the caboose was an essential element of braking system that was a cooperative endeavor of engineers in the locomotive and the brakeman in the caboose. “Stiff” is old slang for a working man. A brakebeam stiff would therefore be a reference the brakeman in the caboose as a synecdoche, perhaps, for railroad workers in general in this context. 

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> On Feb 26, 2021, at 2:47 AM, Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> P465.7-13   . . . Frank ran into the Reverend Moss Gatlin driving a
> strange-looking horseless trolley car, with a miniature steeple and working
> church bells on the back end, and over the front window, where the
> destination sign usually was, the lighted-up words anarchist heaven. Moss
> was busy picking up every vagrant, ankle-biter, opium fiend,
> down-and-outer, brakebeam stiff, in fact any citizen looking even a little
> helpless—and loading them on board his A.H. Express.
> 
> What exactly does "brakebeam stiff" refer to?
> --
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