A railroad freight car brake beam with a strut having a pair of generally parallel and joined side walls disposed to opposite sides of an axis of the strut and having a central hollow portion along with a longitudinally elongated slot adapted to be inclined a predetermined number of degrees from vertical for accommodating an elongated brake lever extending through the strut. A reel rotor and a reel handle are disposed on a reel body. A retrofit actuator assembly adapted to be mounted on an existing lock to control a locking mechanism of the lock, and a two-way communication device to control the retrofit actuator assembly and to receive signals from the retrofit actuator assembly indicating a state of the locking mechanism. Once the interference fit exists, the position of the shaft can be adjusted to change the stroke length of the slide in the press.