Railway Tread Brake
The brake shoe carries the brake block. The block was originally made of wood but is now usually cast iron. When the brake is applied, the shoe moves and presses the block against the tread of the wheel. As well as providing braking effort this also "scrubs" the wheel and keeps it clean. Tread brakes on passenger trains have now largely been superseded by disc brakes.
Read more about this topic: Brake Shoe
Famous quotes containing the words railway and/or tread:
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