A counterweight brake (german: Wurfhebelbremse) is an early form of
hand brake on
railway tenders and
tank locomotives.
By throwing a counterweight lever, play in the
brake blocks is quickly taken up and braking action is initiated. Further movement of the lever increases the transmission so that the blocks are pressed against the wheel tyres with greater and greater force.
On locomotive tenders the counterweight brake generally acts on all the
axle
An axle or axletree is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear. On wheeled vehicles, the axle may be fixed to the wheels, rotating with them, or fixed to the vehicle, with the wheels rotating around the axle. In the former case, bearing ...
s, whilst on tank engines the braking action is only applied to the
driving and
coupled wheels.
See also
*
Emergency brake (train)
* - to follow
Literature
* ''Lexikon Eisenbahn'', Transpress Verlag für Verkehrswesen, Berlin, 1978
Railway brakes
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