New-York tribune., 1907-09-15

The coutrivance is a heavy metal beam swung
horizontally. between the wheels. to the trucks
At right angles 10 the locomotives or cars length
and equipped with the "fulcrum," operated directly
by the power train brake and the brake head
which supplies the support and immediate backing
for the brake shoe the which, when i'm contact with
the wheels. stops the train, or merely checks It's
speed according TO the degree Of pressure applied
Until recently all brake beams were more or less
unreliable. in that their fittings were made Of
raIIeablo iron: IN that their head" had only four
points OF contact projections somewhat like the
'corks' Of norseshoe) with tho brake shoe, and In
that they were suspended by hangers, the bearings
o. which merely scmi-ciTCular indentations in
the face Of their head With the immensely increased
power Of train brake some Of these parts would
give way-cither the fuicTUm would break or the
heads points OF contact with the shoe would crush
or snap of under the strain: sometimes the hanger
would part or. in tho shoe became disCon-
uecod would slip from hearings. drop the whole
appliance to the track and cause a bad wreck
In Wow Of the important part this appliance plays
in train operations il does seem though the highly
trained specialists Of thu railroads should long since
have recognized tho necessity of demanding that
better material methods OF construction be
TouSht by makers, buc not until about five years
ago anything done in ths direction. Then
there introduced a brake beam that offered.
said "a satisfactory solution Of all the prob
lens involved. The concern making it. the Buf-
falo Brake Beam Company. organized by Cor
nelius Vanderbilt began operations in 1892 really
but il did not get in good shape 10 supply the
roads With its product until a year later. yet It
IS reported t. about - per OF all
these appliances manufactured this country. <
IS claimed thar. Unlike most Of the other makers.
this company is n manufacturer not an assember.
and makes all parts of its brake beam It's works
are at Buffalo. where. suitably located plot cf
five a,res IL is'now erecting buildings
Cummodatc the expanded facilities demanded by its
rapidly increasing business. and where running
night and Ioy-doublc shifts-it employs the skilled
labor or some hundred and hrjy hands. its
product IS estimated TO cost II per cent than
The oil style Of brake beam hUt II = claimed that
tie great difference in wear amply offsets this.
II indeed the added factor OF entire safety did
not prove warrant enough to the railroads Ger in
curing this slightly Increased expense. The COM
panys confidence in the endurance of its product is
shown in the fac; that it offers replace all fail
ures and also 10 defray the expense OF the sub
st.tu,ion
1t is said never to have had any reports of It's
brake beam falling. But that does not seem to
breed in il Il sense of oyersecurity. indeed il
AYERS that it gets all its lessons from tne scrap
heap and II exercises the system - Iisid sur
veiiiance which IS SO mnrkcd feature OF bust
resses Of all these safety appliance people
But 1t is time that its bTSke beam were described
in detail that tho reader may become sufficiently
acquainted with lis cNceeucies 20 share its max
ers' confidence I'm its virtue Il safeguard Refer
ence To the accompanying illustration will make
this clear even to the Iayman. The section (A) the
parts Of forged steel. whereas In other makes
they are. said. OF mallcable iron. The head"
which is fastened 10 this section. and to which in
turn, Is fastened the brake shoe has bearing sur
face tB which gives contact with the latter over
It's entire area-n fact. 50 nearly does IL conform
to the braking surface of the shoe it could
place the latter in of accident to f-and It's
material would enable It to stand the racket in
the emergency This bearing surface has ample
backing in the heavy reinforcement of metal on
I,aI,-
head Is suspended 10 the truck ny the safety
hanger tE;) I'm manner quite different from and
II is thought much better than. other makes
Hangers are ~ shaped. With the old style the
weight OF the brake beam rests I'm the bottom OF
the u the bearing being as before described. a
semi circular slot in the face of the head. and a
rod Is run through its two arms and fastened at
one end. In the of the Buffalo. one arm of
the ''U'' is passed through the bearing CC0. and
the weight rests this arm: the safety hanger
link (FC is then fastened TO each arm with pin.
No accident TO tho brake shoe release in
any other way affect this hanger. while broken