Interesting disc brake

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Greg_Lewis
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Interesting disc brake

Post by Greg_Lewis »

Saw this on the DLR trains here in London. A single-sided disc brake. Obviously, the force applied is counteracted by the same setup on the other side. May be around in the US but I haven't seen it.
IMG_8821.JPG
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Russ Hanscom
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Re: Interesting disc brake

Post by Russ Hanscom »

Lots of interesting stuff over there. Just came back from 16 days on the EU RRs.

According to a swiss informant, the swiss make stuff and use it for a few years, then sell it to the brits who use it for 10-15 years and then they sell it to the portugese who run it forever.
ccvstmr
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Re: Interesting disc brake

Post by ccvstmr »

Looks like light rail and small wheels. Wonder if that's some kind of trolley or light rail transport vehicle.

Amtrak Amfleet and Superliner cars had dual disks on each axle inboard of the wheels. Believe this was done to get away from wheel tread clasp brakes as a result of excessive braking would generate a lot of heat which translated to wheel tread cracks (and potential failure).

Somewhere, saw photos of brakes for high speed trains like Japan's Bullet train or the French TGV. Those might have had 3 or 4 disks per axle.

Either way, there's lots of energy to dissipate when the brakes are applied...no matter how fast the train is going...or how great the load.

Thanks for sharing Greg...got any other neat tid bits of eye candy? Carl B.
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Bill Shields
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Re: Interesting disc brake

Post by Bill Shields »

the cars running up / down the NE Corridor all have disc brakes, either inboard or outboard of the wheels.

I believe that the inboard are called KNORR used by Amtrak.,,but may be siemens

Hitachi (among others) in Japan makes the brakes you show. So does Siemens (Germany)

Alstrom (Baharat?) in europe make the brakes with the disc outboard of the wheel...as do Siemens

The trucks with the outboard brakes typically have a 'low floor' in the car, which would interfere with inboard brakes...typically most of the 'double decker' passenger cars running around have outboard discs
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Steggy
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Re: Interesting disc brake

Post by Steggy »

Bill Shields wrote: Thu Jul 18, 2019 9:38 pm the cars running up / down the NE Corridor all have disc brakes, either inboard or outboard of the wheels.

I believe that the inboard are called KNORR used by Amtrak.,,but may be siemens

Hitachi (among others) in Japan makes the brakes you show. So does Siemens (Germany)

Alstrom (Baharat?) in europe make the brakes with the disc outboard of the wheel...as do Siemens

The trucks with the outboard brakes typically have a 'low floor' in the car, which would interfere with inboard brakes...typically most of the 'double decker' passenger cars running around have outboard discs
The first-generation Amfleet cars from the mid-1970s had disc brakes. Disc braking on rail cars is nothing new. Budd started using them in the 1950s on their Pioneer trucks, if memory correctly serves me. Disc brakes cost more than wheel tread, but have higher braking capacity in less space, are less likely to lock and slide the wheels, and don't demand as much maintenance. They also lend themselves well to being controlled by anti-wheel slide systems.
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