A system for detecting the operational status of a brake system on a railcar of a train consist, the system comprising: a sensor located on the railcar and configured to generate an output indicative of a magnitude of a braking force applied by the braking system; and a computing device communicatively coupled to the sensor and comprising a computer-readable storage medium comprising one or more programming instructions that, when executed, cause the computing device to: receive from the sensor an indication of the magnitude of a braking force applied by the braking system in response to an instruction to increase or decrease the braking force; compare the response to possible responses of the braking system to the instruction to increase or decrease the braking force; and based on the comparison, generate at least one of a message and an alert indicating the status of the brake system, the system further comprising: a pressure sensing device communicatively coupled to the computing device and configured to measure air pressure within a brake pipe of the railcar, wherein the one or more programming instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to determine the time which a predetermined rate of decrease in the air pressure within the brake pipe occurs; to compare the time to the times at which a predetermined rate of decrease in the air pressure within the brake pipes of other railcars in the train consist occurred; and, based on the comparison, determine a location of the source of a transient event that caused an undesired emergency brake event in the train consist. a sensor located on the railcar and configured to generate an output indicative of a magnitude of a braking force applied by the braking system; and a computing device communicatively coupled to the sensor and comprising a computer-readable storage medium comprising one or more programming instructions that, when executed, cause the computing device to: receive from the sensor an indication of the magnitude of a braking force applied by the braking system in response to an instruction to increase or decrease the braking force; compare the response to possible responses of the braking system to the instruction to increase or decrease the braking force; and based on the comparison, generate at least one of a message and an alert indicating the status of the brake system, receive from the sensor an indication of the magnitude of a braking force applied by the braking system in response to an instruction to increase or decrease the braking force; compare the response to possible responses of the braking system to the instruction to increase or decrease the braking force; and based on the comparison, generate at least one of a message and an alert indicating the status of the brake system, the system further comprising: a pressure sensing device communicatively coupled to the computing device and configured to measure air pressure within a brake pipe of the railcar, wherein the one or more programming instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to determine the time which a predetermined rate of decrease in the air pressure within the brake pipe occurs; to compare the time to the times at which a predetermined rate of decrease in the air pressure within the brake pipes of other railcars in the train consist occurred; and, based on the comparison, determine a location of the source of a transient event that caused an undesired emergency brake event in the train consist. a pressure sensing device communicatively coupled to the computing device and configured to measure air pressure within a brake pipe of the railcar, wherein the one or more programming instructions, when executed, further cause the computing device to determine the time which a predetermined rate of decrease in the air pressure within the brake pipe occurs; to compare the time to the times at which a predetermined rate of decrease in the air pressure within the brake pipes of other railcars in the train consist occurred; and, based on the comparison, determine a location of the source of a transient event that caused an undesired emergency brake event in the train consist.