2007 rubber washers between the wood block and the cylinder body to eliminate the loud clunk of the cylinder retracting. Construction of eight units took less than a day of cutting, drilling and welding. The wagon had a total of eighteen casters so we ended up with less than half of them having brake units. I decided to position the locking casters at the locations farthest away from the pivot point for maximum holding effect. A small air tank was mounted into the wagon with a plumbing manifold next to it. Air lines were run from this manifold to each individual cylinder. I prefer to run independent lines rather than daisy chain cylinders together as it is easier to troubleshoot problems, including isolating a faulty unit if it should go bad during a performance without losing the entire system. An access hatch was built into the deck for maintenance and refilling the tank. In-line flow controls and a manual control valve with a small toggle switch protruding out from one side of the deck completed the system. The actors, when picking up or putting down their poles to move the wagon, could reach over the edge of the overhanging lid and flip the little switch to make the wagon free-rolling or rock solid. ▼ THEATRE SPRING 2007 DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY 45