Railway air brake
Freno Westinghouse
- Date
- 1869 · confidence high
- Place
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
- Credited to
- George Westinghouse
- Field
- Movement
What it is
A railway braking system operated by compressed air: air pressure keeps the brakes released, and a drop or loss of pressure applies them automatically on every car, making it inherently fail-safe against a coupling break or leak.
What it led to
- near-universal adoption of air brakes on railways
- founding of the Westinghouse Air Brake Company
- automatic braking of the whole train on an accidental leak or uncoupling
- the basis of pneumatic brake systems still used today on trains and trucks