Air or steam brakes

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wbarbe
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Joined: Fri Jan 10, 2003 12:03 pm

Air or steam brakes

Post by wbarbe »

My locomotive has steam brakes on the engine and no brakes on the tender. I am looking at adding straight air brakes to the tender and probably the whole train. Is it worth it to convert the locomotive brakes to air? Is it difficult and is it worth it?
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BB
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SPSteam2491
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Location: Mukwonago, WI

Re: Air or steam brakes

Post by SPSteam2491 »

Keep the steam brakes on the engine. They can be used a backup/emergency if the air brake line goes out or if you are just moving around the yard without the rest of the air system.
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John LaFavor
Pacific Design Shops
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LVRR2095
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Re: Air or steam brakes

Post by LVRR2095 »

Do the steam brakes work? If so…the old adage applies, if something works…DON’T Fix It.

Keith
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cbrew
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Re: Air or steam brakes

Post by cbrew »

steam brakes work as a parking brake more then anything, they tend to be slow to respond when the system loads up with water.
if you will be adding air brakes. its real easy to convert the locomotive over to air.
I personally run straight air on the loco, tender, the train is auto (failsafe).
the pacific, I am looking at straight air on the locomotive only and auto from the tender back.
still have the redundancy, but personal experience, I rarely use the straight air brakes while on the main. its easy to just do a 5 to 10 reduction when controlling or stopping the train,,, or big hole it when some idiot is not flagging their train around a blind curve :)
If it is not live steam. its not worth it.
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ChuckHackett-844
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Re: Air or steam brakes

Post by ChuckHackett-844 »

Having two different brake systems is a plus in case of a failed compressor, battery, etc. I would keep the steam on the engine and go with straight air on the tender.

Another issue is straight-air .vs. automatic air (more complicated) but that's another discussion and depends on your preferences, train length, etc.
Regards,

Chuck Hackett, UP Northern 844, Mich-Cal Shay #2
Owner, MiniRail Solutions, LLC, RR Signal Systems (http://www.MiniRailSolutions.com)
"By the work, One knows the workman"
Soot n' Cinders
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Re: Air or steam brakes

Post by Soot n' Cinders »

I second, or third, the keep the locomotive steam. You’ll have a backup in case something happens, plus that’ll save wear on the locomotive brakes and tires.
-Tristan

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NP317
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Re: Air or steam brakes

Post by NP317 »

Keep the locomotive brakes steam, and independent from the brakes behind.
RussN
Berkman
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Re: Air or steam brakes

Post by Berkman »

I think it also depends on if you have enough room in your tender to have an electric air pump, battery, etc. I certainly wouldn't change what is already there unless there is a problem, but if a new build, and the loco/tender are large enough to not rely on a trailing car for the compressor setup, then there is no reason not to use straight air on everything since it's all self contained in the locomotive/tender.

If it's a smaller locomotive and you would need a trailing car to contain it all, then I'd absolutely want steam brakes on the engine otherwise you will have no brakes without your "brake car".
Last edited by Berkman on Thu Sep 08, 2022 3:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Trainman4602
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Re: Air or steam brakes

Post by Trainman4602 »

You all know what I would do
ALLWAYS OPERATING MY TRAIN IN A SAFE MANNER USING AUTOMATIC AIR BRAKES
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Bill Shields
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Re: Air or steam brakes

Post by Bill Shields »

unless you have a huge tender, you are going to need a 'support car' for the air compressor, tank and battery'....

Dave's example of what to do is a good place to start...totally separate car.

keep in mind that these little compressors tend to be noisy, so you will need to spend more time than you have planned on noise-abatement
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pat1027
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Re: Air or steam brakes

Post by pat1027 »

Air would be more easily modulated than steam. At 40PSI I've got good braking action and at 60 PSI the drivers start to lock up.. so a conversion to air would easy aside from the source.. I considered converting mine from steam to air but I'm starting to add brakes to the cars and will leave the locomotive independent.
It's more fun pulling cars down grade than being pushed by them.
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