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Steam is supplied to the steam brake cylinders from the locomotive boiler via a valve (the brake valve) which may have several fixed settings or be infinitely variable. The piston in the steam cylinder is set in motion by the steam admitted, the piston rod transfers the brake force via a system of rods to the brake blocks of the vehicle, thus achieving the braking effect.
A countersteam brake is a brake on a steam locomotive that uses the engine (specifically the cylinders) to help brake the locomotive.. It uses the working principle of steam cylinders fitted with slide or piston valves such that, by changing the configuration of the valve gear, the motion of the valves is also altered such that they work in opposition to the movement of the pistons.
Controls the supply of steam to the cylinders. The valve gear, actuated by connection to the driving wheels, ensures that steam is delivered to the piston with precision. Types are slide valves, piston valves or poppet valves. [2] [3]: 62 Valve chest / Steam chest Valve chamber next to the cylinder (24) containing passageways to distribute ...
Piping diagram from 1909 of a Westinghouse 6-ET Air Brake system on a locomotive Control handle and valve for a Westinghouse air brake. A railway air brake is a railway brake power braking system with compressed air as the operating medium. [1]
An early development was the application of a steam brake to locomotives, where boiler pressure could be applied to brake blocks on the locomotive wheels. As train speeds increased, it became essential to provide some more powerful braking system capable of instant application and release by the train operator, described as a continuous brake ...
Graduable brake valve (right) and the small (upper) and large ejector cocks from a GWR locomotive. Most steam locomotives of the period used straightforward live steam brakes on their own wheels (where steam pressure was let into the brake cylinders to apply the brakes), with the vacuum brake being solely used on the train.
Counter-pressure brakes were found especially on steam engines that worked long inclines and on rack railway locomotives (e.g. on the Vienna Kahlenberg Railway (Kahlenbergbahn), relieving brake blocks and tyres from high levels of wear and tear that they would otherwise be subjected to.
Steam locomotives usually have their own braking system, independent from the rest of the train. Locomotive brakes employ large shoes which press against the driving wheel treads. They can be either air brakes or steam brakes. In addition, they nearly always have a handbrake to keep the locomotive stationary when there is no steam pressure to ...