Cane brake

“ Caution.—After you have set the gears for starting, and before you release the clutch pedal, always reach and make sure that the emergency brake lever is in the neutral position. New drivers invariably forget to do this, which results in severe strain on the bearings, and causes them to get loose; the average brake band will not stand more than fifteen to twenty minutes of continuous contact before it burns or wears beyond the point of usefulness. ”

“ Every car carries at least two brakes of band pattern—one, usually worked by a side hand-lever, acting on the axle or hubs of the driving-wheel; the other, operated by the foot, acting on the transmission gear (see Fig. 48) . The latter brake is generally arranged to withdraw the clutch simultaneously. Tests have proved that even heavy cars can be pulled up in astonishingly short distances, considering their rate of travel. ”

“ Educate your men to feel that neglect of this wise precaution is just as mortifying as to appear in public without clothes. In shoving long cuts of cars without using air, get your brakemen and switchmen to feel a pride in setting a hand brake on the end car to take the slack and save the jerk on the drawbars. Work for the old-time feeling of chagrin that came to the calloused-armed passenger brakeman, in the days of Armstrong brakes, when he did not go after them soon enough and let his train run by the station. The men are not to blame for this loss of pride and interest. ”

“ Band brakes are usually lined with leather, to increase the friction between the band and the drum, and this often gives rise to troubles in the burning of the leather when the brake is applied for a considerable period, as in the descent of a long hill. The emergency brake has advantages in that it operates through the friction of metal against metal, but excessive heat from continued application may be enough to melt the metal and fuse together the shoe and drum. ”

“ Perhaps the most serious danger in the car mechanism is the brake. Mr. Harold F. Blanchard writing in Motor (New York) , argues that more than half, probably as much as 90 per cent of all motor accidents may be eliminated by making the stopping ability of motor vehicles a maximum instead of 25 to 50 per cent, as is now the rule. He would have brakes put on all four wheels and claims thereby the braking power of the machine can be more than doubled. ”

“ How long it was she did not guess, because it was concealed by a curve at the top. She seemed to plane down forever. The brakes [158] squealed behind. She tried to shift to first but there was a jarring snarl, and she could neither get into first nor back into third. She was running in neutral, the great car coasting, while she tried to slow it by jamming down the foot-brake. The car halted—and started on again. The brake-lining which had been wished on her at Saddle Back was burnt out.
She had the feeling of the car bursting out from under control ... ready to leap off the road, into a wash. ”

“ During a stop something may happen to the brakes so as to make them quite ineffective, or a portion of the brake mechanism may have broken. The driver who perhaps before luncheon has ascertained that his brakes are acting perfectly, after luncheon may start off in the same supposition, and perhaps not discover his error until, relying on his pedal brake to stop him in traffic, he finds that it has no effect, with the result that he probably goes through the back of a brougham. ”

“ Transfer your whip to the left hand and avoid the danger of flicking the horse in front of you by dropping it toward him; or of flicking the passengers behind you by dropping it toward them; and above all avoid the danger of breaking or losing your whip altogether. When the brake is to be put on, you need your whole hand to do it. Put on and take off the brake quietly. Knowing horses will often start off at the sound of the brake. The brake should not be regarded as a regular part of the harness. ”

“ The brake shoved on with a jerk at every stop jars everybody in the vehicle, and has been known, not once, but often, to actually chuck people clean out of the vehicle, both behind and in front, besides bringing the horse into his collar with a painful galling of his shoulders. On a level place the brake should never be used to stop the vehicle. After the vehicle has been stopped, particularly if it be a heavy one, the brake may be put on and left on until the next start is made—this as a measure of precaution.
Never put on the brake in any case with the whip in the right hand. ”

“ When from any cause it is desirable to have the brake inoperative on any particular car, the four-way cock is turned to an intermediate position, which shuts off the brake-cylinder and reservoir, leaving the main brake-pipe unobstructed to supply air to the remaining vehicles. ”

“ Then in case the brake does not work, or you are without one, the refusal may cause trouble. The brake is only for use when there is too much strain on horse and harness—not for use every time we go down the smallest declivity. Such use of it spoils rather than helps the horse. It is torture to a passenger to see and feel the brake go on, before the descent is reached even, and then kept on yards after there is no need of it. As a matter of fact, good men and good horses are able to negotiate any ordinary road, without any brake at all ”

“ We not only had to make the turns, which were just as sharp as on the Austrian side, but it was necessary to watch the straining brakes, releasing them when the grade permitted and alternating the emergency brake with compression. This was a feat demanding all the qualities of motormanship. Coolness and good judgment were indispensable at every curve of the descent. The road turned icy corners and edged along precipitous cliffs. If the brakes had refused to work, it would have been fatal; the downward plunge of the car would have been beyond control in a few seconds. ”

“ Steering and braking should go together.
On some of the steep mountain roads, which, because of their length and relative grade with the bottom of the canyon, appear to be nearly level, it is impossible to hold the car with the brake alone. It is customary in such cases to assist the brake with the engine; unless the driver is very expert at changing gears the engine should be put in low, or intermediate, depending on the steepness, at the top of the hill, then with brakes and clutch the car may be controlled and kept to a safe speed. ”

“ YANKED TO ETERNITY. ONCE, when a section-crew came down the mountain on the South Park road, from Alpine Tunnel to Buena Vista, a very singular thing occurred, which has never been given to the public. Every one who knows anything at all, knows that riding down that mountain on a push-car, descending at the rate of over 200 feet to the mile, means utter destruction, unless the brake is on. This brake is nothing more nor less then a piece of scantling, which is applied between one of the wheels and the car-bed, in such a way as to produce great friction. ”

“ As every car is equipped with two distinct sets of brakes, drivers should learn to use first one and then the other on long grades, and this may be helped out considerably by using the motor as a brake—that is, by cutting off the ignition and allowing the machine to push the engine under compression, and even more by engaging a lower gear before cutting off the ignition, so that there is a greater leverage obtained to retard the car. ”

“ Every motor vehicle other than a motorcycle shall have brakes which can be easily operated by the driver when in his driving position. These brakes shall be capable of performing the following three braking functions:
(a)
A service brake capable of slowing down the vehicle and of stopping it safely, rapidly and effectively, whatever its conditions of loading and whatever the upward or downward gradient of the road on which it is moving ”

“ It may be assumed that there was no negligence on the part of the defendant by reason of which the horse came upon the trestle, and that it was not, therefore, responsible for any damage of which the horse was the sole and proximate cause. We think one proximate cause of the accident was the absence of the engine brakes. The purpose of a brake is to stop the engine more promptly than can be done without it, and if there had been a brake on the engine it would, if used, have probably prevented the accident. ”

“ It then becomes impossible for a driver to run his train in ignorance of any defect in his brake apparatus because such defect at once discloses itself by applying the brakes and stopping the train. Thirdly, that each vehicle shall carry its own brake power in such a manner that the destruction of the brake apparatus on one or more of the carriages shall not affect the efficiency of the brakes upon any of the others. No continuous brake which does not comply with such conditions can ever be satisfactory.--The Engineer. ”

“ When a load is lifted, work has to be done in overcoming the action of gravity and the friction of the mechanism; when it is lowered, energy is given out. To control the speed and absorb this energy, brakes have to be provided. The Brakes. hydraulic crane has a great advantage in possessing an almost ideal brake, for by simply throttling the exhaust from the lifting cylinder the speed of descent can be regulated within very wide limits and with perfect safety. ”

“ Mechanical brakes, worked by springs, friction wheels on the axle, chains wound on drums, or other mechanical devices, or by the force produced when, by reason of a sudden checking of the speed of the locomotive, the momentum Railway power brakes. of the cars causes pressure on the draw-bars or buffing devices. (2) Hydraulic brakes, worked by means of water forced through pipes into proper mechanism for transmitting its force to the brake-shoes. (3) Electric brakes. (4) Air and vacuum brakes, worked by compressed air or by air at atmospheric pressure operating on a vacuum. ”

“ For this reason the felt should be wound, starting from the wheel end, in a direction opposite to the forward motion of the wheel, covering the axle for a distance of six or eight inches. The felt should be fastened to the shaft with shellac and bound in three or four places with cord.
While oil on the brake bands is not desirable, oil on all of the bearing points of the brake mechanism is highly desirable. Some time, when driving in a city, take notice of the number of times the brake is applied. Then stop to think how each action is taking place in the brake mechanism. ”

“ If you are driving a trap with a brake, with which some basket phaetons are equipped, as are all traps for use in hilly countries except runabouts, do not use the brake too freely. It is much better for the horses to accustom themselves to hold the trap back than it is to have them pulling it downhill. If your horses become accustomed to having the brake on at every hill you go down, you will find great difficulty in holding them when you drive them without a brake. ”

“ The simplest way of applying a brake is by muscular force, exerted through a hand or foot lever or through a screw, by which the brake block is pressed against the rim of the wheel or the band brake tightened on its drum. This method is sufficient in the case of most road vehicles, and is largely used on railway vehicles. But the power thus available is limited, and becomes inadequate for heavy vehicles moving at high speeds. ”

“ A heavy vehicle, pushing two jaded horses in front of it, came creaking and groaning down the hill. A "shoe" brake, pressing hard against one of the back wheels, gave a kind of hoarse shriek now and then. ”

“ The rim of the wheel is rapidly heated by the friction [200] of the brake-shoe, and the unequal expansion of the heated and the unheated parts of the wheel causes a fracture. This is why so many broken car-wheels are found at the foot of grades—of all places the worst for such an accident to happen. With "straight air," that is, with the pressure from the main reservoir, or the air-pump, going directly to the brake-cylinder, the engineer can apply the brakes to all the wheels of his train simultaneously, and with great delicacy of graduation ”

“ A clutch which grips too hard will cause the wheels to slide and wear. The brake, also, should not be too positive, but be adjusted to work easily, so that the wheel will stop turning just as the momentum is spent, to prevent sliding. Both brakes should be adjusted alike, or one will grip the wheel fast and the other turn. The gripped tire will scrape along and the pavement cuts the tire like a rasp.
Another set of men forgets that oil and grease and gasoline are the natural enemies of tires. They allow the machine to stand in the garage where there are pools of oil or gas. ”

“ In this statement we find a list of accidents which have been avoided by the use of the brake, and these accidents are classified under different heads, such as Collisions, Obstacles on the Line, Rolling-stock not removed in time, and so forth. Upwards of forty disasters have been clearly avoided by the prompt use of the brake. On the other hand, the brake itself will sometimes get out of order and refuse to act at the critical moment. ”