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Archibald Williams explains the scientific principles behind common mechanisms and physical phenomena such as steam, electricity, light, and hydraulics. The text focuses on the fundamental operation of everyday devices rather than specific models or detailed technical specifications.

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Table of Contents

HOW IT WORKS.

has not been broken to any appreciable extent. Air then rushes into the train pipe through the valve. It is thus evident that the driver controls this valve as effectively as if it were on the engine. These "emergency" valves are sometimes fitted to every vehicle of a train.

When a carriage is slipped, taps on each side of the coupling joint of the train pipe are turned off by the guard in the "slip;" and when he wishes to stop he merely depresses the lever E, gradually opening the valve. Under the van is an auxiliary vacuum chamber, from which the air is exhausted by the train pipe. If the guard, after the slip has parted from the train, finds that he has applied his brakes too hard, he can put this chamber into communication with the brake cylinder, and restore the vacuum sufficiently to pull the brakes off again.

When a train has come to rest, the brakes must be sucked off by the ejector. Until this has been done the train cannot be moved, so that it is impossible for it to leave the station unprepared to make a sudden stop if necessary.

THE WESTINGHOUSE AIR-BRAKE.

This system is somewhat more complicated than the vacuum, though equally reliable and powerful. Owing to the complexity of certain parts, such as the steam air-pump and the triple-valve, it is impossible to explain the system in detail; we therefore have recourse to simple diagrammatic sketches, which will help to make clear the general principles employed.

The air-brake, as first evolved by Mr. George Westinghouse, was a very simple affair—an air-pump and reservoir on the engine; a long pipe running along the train; and a cylinder under every vehicle to work the brakes. To stop the train,

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