Railway Air Brake - Background

Background

Prior to the introduction of air brakes, stopping a train was a difficult business. In the early days when trains consisted of one or two cars and speeds were low, the engine driver could stop the train by reversing the steam flow to the cylinders, causing the locomotive to act as a brake. However, as trains got longer, heavier and faster, and started to operate in mountainous regions, it became necessary to fit each car with brakes, as the locomotive was no longer capable of bringing the train to a halt in a reasonable distance.

The introduction of brakes to railcars necessitated the employment of additional crew members called brakemen, whose job it was to move from car to car and apply or release the brakes when signaled to do so by the engineer with a series of whistle blasts. Occasionally, whistle signals were not heard, incorrectly given or incorrectly interpreted, and derailments or collisions would occur because trains were not stopped in time.

Brakes were manually applied and released by turning a large brake wheel located at one end of each car. The brake wheel pulled on the car's brake rigging and clamped the brake shoes against the wheels. As considerable force was required to overcome the friction in the brake rigging, the brakeman used a stout piece of wood called a "club" to assist him in turning the brake wheel.

The job of a passenger train brakeman wasn't too difficult, as he was not exposed to the weather and could conveniently move from car to car through the vestibules, which is where the brake wheel was (and still is, in many cases) located. Also, passenger trains were not as heavy or lengthy as their freight counterparts, which eased the task of operating the brakes.

A brakeman's job on a freight train was far more difficult, as he was exposed to the elements and was responsible for many more cars. To set the brakes on a boxcar (UIC: covered wagon) the brakeman had to climb to the roof ("coon the buggy" in railroad slang) and walk a narrow catwalk to reach the brake wheel while the car was swaying and pitching beneath his feet. There was nothing to grasp other than the brake wheel itself, and getting to the next car often required jumping. Needless to say, a freight brakeman's job was extremely dangerous, and many were maimed or killed in falls from moving trains.

Complicating matters, the manually operated brakes had limited effectiveness and controlling a train's speed in mountainous terrain was a dicey affair. Occasionally, the brakemen simply could not set enough brakes to a degree where they were able to reduce speed while descending a grade, which usually resulted in a runaway—followed by a disastrous wreck.

When adopted, the Westinghouse system had a major effect on railroad safety. Reliable braking was assured, reducing the frequent accidents that plagued the industry. Brakemen were no longer required to risk life and limb to stop a train, and with the engineer now in control of the brakes, misunderstood whistle signals were eliminated. As a result, longer and heavier trains could be safely run at higher speeds.

During his lifetime, Westinghouse made many improvements to his invention. The United States Congress passed the Safety Appliance Act in 1893 making the use of some automatic brake system mandatory. By 1905, over 2,000,000 freight, passenger, mail, baggage and express railroad cars and 89,000 locomotives in the United States were equipped with the Westinghouse Automatic Brake.