How Do Train Brakes Work?

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Күн бұрын

Пікірлер: 19

@tomray8765 Ай бұрын

Air breaks work "Backwards". The air pressure holds them OPEN against powerful springs. LOSS of pressure causes the breaks to close. Westinghouse made this modification early on rather than just have the pressure close the brakes. This is so if a car breaks loose, it will automatically stop. Also the train will stop if it loses pressure.

@3sierra15 2 ай бұрын

Trains also have a radio-triggered air valve on the rear that dumps the air in an emergency and applies the brakes starting at the end of the train and working forward. Although this reduces the delay in applying the brakes, it still takes the better part of a mile for the longest trains to come to a full stop.

@DudleyDoright-ru2ch 6 күн бұрын

Emergency brake application causes an additional 40psi to each brake. A chip load is about 100 tons, coal about 150 tons and so on. Max brake pressure application is 24 psi plus emergency.

@chrisbarnes2823 2 ай бұрын

I would be nice to see the actual mechanics of the types of brakes on train axles.

@tarzansingh8436 Ай бұрын

Short but knowledge packed episodes are excellent without the risk of attention deficit

@srjnikam532 21 күн бұрын

Create a heartfelt video exploring how a bullet train works. Let's delve into the fascinating technology and the remarkable engineering behind these incredible machines that connect people and places with speed and efficiency.

@jerryhayes9497 2 ай бұрын

In England we had vacuum breaks before air breaks became the norm

@agnelodsa788 17 күн бұрын

Dynamic braking is also called regenerative braking.

@Kevin_Rhodes 2 ай бұрын

Air brakes are only "fail safe" as long as the reservoirs on the cars have air in them. Once that air leaks out or is used up, the brakes will release. That is basically what happened with the horrendous oil train crash in Quebec. The locomotives shut down, the air bled off, and with not enough hand brakes applied, the train rolled away down the hill, derailed and exploded, leveling the downtown area. Similarly, if the engineer is injudicious with his use of the brakes, he can deplete the brake reservoirs faster than the compressor on the locomotive can refill them and end up with no brakes. On a long train, it is very possible to use up the air faster than the locomotive(s) can refill them, and some railroads even put dedicated air compressor cars mid-train for this reason. It's especially import in very cold weather as that increases the propensity for leaks.

@stanpatterson5033 2 ай бұрын

Exactly. In the last 40 years, they figured out (and perfected) how to replace the air repeater cars, with locomotives in the middle and ends of trains. Since all locos have air compressors, they can help keep the trainline up to pressure, while providing power and reducing the tension on couplers. I guess repeater cars still have a use in certain places though, especially in very cold weather on light trains that don't need DPU's. I think repeater cars are also morphing into sensor cars that can sense rough track and other problems while in motion. Can be a sensory car all seasons, and an air repeater whenever needed.

@5-Minutegeography 2 ай бұрын

I'm a train engineer and attest to the validity of the information in this video.

@JIm-w1b 2 ай бұрын

You would think the early railroads would have gladly adopted a welcome advancement like air brakes, but not so. They fought like Jews and Arabs in the middle east against the adoption of air brakes, even though brakemen with the crude mechanical brakes, were being maimed and killed left and right. A number of determined, safety-minded people had to struggle for 10 or 20 years to get laws passed that would finally force the railroads to adopt air brakes.