At the turn of the previous century on the O&W, the importance of following the company rules was impressed upon every operating department employee by the "BOOK OF RULES of the NEW YORK, ONTARIO & WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY, JULY 1st, 1898."  This was particularly true of the chapter titled RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN THE USE OF THE WESTINGHOUSE AIR BRAKE.  owever, The air brake chapter was devoted to ensuring that use of Mr. George Westinghouse's newfangled automatic air brakes did not introduce unnecessary costs or delays into everyday operations, even as the new and improved brakes made train movements safer and less vulnerable to accidents. 

  Actually, the Westinghouse air brake wasn't really all that new anymore by 1898.  It had been around in several forms since the early 1880s, and in its evolved form incorporating the innovative "triple valve" since 1887.  Passenger cars on the O&W, as on most other roads, had received the new air brakes first.  The safety- and comfort-conscious traveling public demanded no less, and the reduction in damage claims alone more than paid for the brake upgrades to passenger equipment.  But, as with most major advancements in railroad technology, Westinghouse air brakes took much longer to work their way down through the entire freight car fleet.  New brake equipment cost good money to buy and install, and such costly improvements could not be made wholesale over the whole road, whatever their expected benefits.

  Perennially cautious, cash-strapped lines like the O&W equipped their freight cars with  the new air brake system only gradually, as cars were added, replaced or rebuilt.  For example, the Capital Expenditures statement of the NYO&W Railway's Annual Report for the year 1899 reported that 683 freight cars had been converted to air brakes in the company shops at a total cost of $32,664.28, for an average investment of $47.82 per car.  Yet in 1906, fully seven years later, the annual report stated that 348 coal and other freight cars had been newly equipped with automatic air brakes that year, at a total cost of $15,170.14, or an average capital outlay of $43.59 per car. 

  Investing forty to fifty dollars per car for safer operations may not seem like a lot in today's money, but a dollar went a lot farther in the early 1900s, and the O&W had over 6000 freight cars in service during that era.  As a result, it was well into the first quarter of the twentieth century before air brakes were universal over the O&W freight car roster, and many an O&W freight department employee may have been introduced to the subtleties of using Mr. Westinghouse's air brake through the pages of the company's 1898 rulebook.

  The air brake chapter is reproduced here just as it appeared in that 1898 O&W rulebook.  Imagine having to know and follow these rules by heart, under time pressure, with the safety of a train and its crew riding on your actions, while coordinating with fellow employees of varying capability and temperament – all while fighting the mind-dulling effects of 16-hour shifts, darkness, numbing cold, and bad weather.    

  Rulebooks like this one were issued to every Operating Department employee of the NYO&W Railway, and were to be carried religiously as workers went about their duties.  Employees had to pass a test on the relevant portions of the rulebook before they could secure a new position on the line, and they could be challenged to produce their copy of the Rulebook any time a Company Officer came by to make an inspection.  This copy of the "Book of Rules of the New York, Ontario and Western Railway Company July 1st, 1898" is stamped "No. 2722" on the inside front cover, and was signed for by "Guy Cochran," employed as "Agent."

RULES TO BE OBSERVED IN THE USE OF THE WESTINGHOUSE AIR BRAKE

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MAKING UP TRAINS
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278. In making up trains, all couplings must be united so that the brakes will apply throughout the entire train¹. The cocks in the brake pipe must be opened (handles in line with train pipe), except that on the rear of the last car, which must be closed.

Where  two engines are attached to the head end of a train, the air must be coupled between them, and operated by the pilot or leading engine.

In detaching engines or cars, the couplings must invariably be parted by hand. The cocks in the main brake pipe, behind hose, must always be closed be­fore separating the couplings, to prevent application of the brakes.

If the brakes become set when the engine is not attached to the train, they can be released by opening the air cock under each auxiliary reservoir.

For the quick‑action brake, the proper position for the handle of the cut‑out cock in crossover pipe leading to triple valve is at right angles with the pipe. If necessary to cut out the brake, the handle should be turned parallel with the pipe².

After making up or adding to a train, or after a change of engines, the rear trainman shall ascertain whether the brake is connected throughout the train. The Engineman under these circumstances must al­ways test the brakes to insure their being properly coupled, and will make a test application immedi­ately after starting.

When there is occasion to apply the brakes from  the cars, the Conductor's valve must be held open, to allow the air to escape, until the train is brought to a standstill and then promptly closed, but this method of application should only be used in cases of emergency.³

Trainmen must in all cases see that the handbrakes are off before testing brakes.

Under ordinary circumstances before detaching the engine or any cars the brakes must be fully released on the whole train. Neglecting this precaution or setting the brakes by opening a cock or valve when the engine is detached, may cause serious inconvenience in switching.⁴  Hand‑brakes must always be set on air brake cars cut out at intermediate stations. The air brakes should be released before the hand brakes are set.

In changing engines it may occur that the one taken on will not have as great air pressure as the engine taken off from the train, and in such case it will be found, when coupled, that all the brakes in the train will be applied, and it will take too long to pump up the difference in pressure on engine necessary to overcome the extra pressure in reservoirs of cars.

In such case open the release cock on the auxiliary reservoir.  The time this will take will vary from one to four seconds to each car, as difference in pressure may require.

Do not open the release cock,⁵ for this may require repeating several times before sufficient reduction in air pressure is reached. A good plan in these cases is to commence at head end of train, and first ascertain if the engine is properly supplied with air, as in case it is not, it may be necessary, and is quite important on a heavy grade, to leave the brakes set until a good pressure is obtained on engine reservoir.  After this is assured, release the pressure on cars as above stated.  As this refers to a difficulty most frequently experienced, Trainmen should understand exactly how to proceed.

The discovery of a defect in the brake apparatus, affecting its working, either before or during a trip, must be reported to the first Car Inspector and at once be made known to all Trainmen and the Engineman and a proper understanding had in regard to same, to insure safety and personal convenience in handling the train.  All Trainmen are equally interested and responsible in such cases.

When starting air pump, Enginemen must allow the water to escape gradually, and not force it out by running the pump with full steam pressure. Start up slowly! Increase speed gradually! Do not race the pump!⁶

See that steam cylinder is kept lubricated with cylinder oil, and that air cylinder is sparingly lubricated with a small quantity of engine oil when necessary.

Run the pump constantly, but never faster than to maintain the required air pressure.

For ordinary stops the brakes should be applied lightly, by opening the Engineer's valve and closing again slowly until the pressure has been reduced on the gauge from four to eight pounds. The brakes are fully applied when the pressure, as shown on the gauge, is reduced twenty pounds. Any further reduction is a waste of air.⁷

Enginemen, upon finding that the brakes have been applied by the Trainmen or automatically, must at once aid in stopping the train by turning the handle of the brake‑valve to the lap position, thus preventing the escape of air from the main reservoir.⁸

Enginemen must avoid making exhibition stops, and must never, except on a heavy grade or in case of necessity, hold the brakes fully applied until the train comes to a full stop, as this causes a reaction in motion of train which is very disagreeable to passengers.⁹

If cars having different air pressure are coupled together, the brakes will apply themselves on those having the highest pressure. To insure the certain release of all the brakes in the train, as also that trains may be charged quickly, the Engineman must carry the maximum pressure in the main reservoir before connecting to a train, and then put the handle of his brake‑valve in the release position until the train is charged with air. If the brakes on the engine and tender thus apply themselves by being coupled to a train not charged, they should at once be taken off by opening the release‑cock from the auxiliary reservoir.

On long down grades it is important to be able to control the speed of the train, and, at the same time, to maintain good working pressure. This is easily accomplished by running the pump at a good speed, so that the main reservoir will accumulate a high pressure while the brakes are on. When, after using the brakes some time, the pressure has been reduced to sixty pounds, the train pipes and reservoirs should be recharged as much as possible before the speed has increased to the maximum allowed. A greater time for recharging is obtained by considerably reducing the speed of the train before recharging and by taking advantage of the variation of the grades.

To release the brakes with certainty it is important to have a higher pressure in the main reservoir than in the main pipe.

All Trainmen are directed to make themselves familiar with the method of releasing the Automatic Brake by opening the cocks, to avoid dangerous delays from the unexpected stoppage of the train by the bursting of a hose or pipe. It is important that the following Rules should be strictly observed, as all of the brakes on a long train  can  be released  in about one minute, if each employee attends promptly to the duties assigned to him below:

(a.) The Engineman should immediately, on feeling the brakes applied, turn the handle of his brake valve so as to maintain the pressure in the main reservoir, which is all important. He should observe his gauge, and if he sees that all of the air has escaped, he will know that a pipe has burst, or that the Conductor's valve has been opened and held open. If the pressure is only reduced sufficiently to apply the brakes, and the reduction then ceases, he will know that the Conductor's valve has been opened long enough to cause the stoppage of the train, and has then been closed. In the latter case he can easily release the brakes in the usual way, upon receiving the proper signal from the Conductor.

(b.) The Enginemen should warn the Trainmen when the brakes have been applied in such a manner that they cannot be released from the engine, by giving the signal. (Rule 347a.)

(c.) The Rear Trainman must, upon the stoppage of the train, immediately proceed to protect the rear of the train, without waiting to release any brakes.

(d.) The Conductor must proceed to the rear of the train and see that the Rear Trainman is protecting the train, and then release as many brakes, beginning at the rear, as he can.

(e.) The fireman shall release as many as he can, beginning at the tender.

(f.) The Middle Trainman will begin about one third of the distance from the engine, and release the brakes towards the rear, until he meets the Conductor.

(g.) As soon as the brakes are released the train should proceed, depending upon the hand‑brakes until a station is reached, where the damages can be ascertained, and repaired without danger to the train.

When the cars are again properly coupled up, before opening the air into the rear end of the train, the Trainman should give the Engineman the signal to set brakes, which should be done strong, and be left on until the Trainman opens the air‑cocks into rear section of train.¹⁰ When this is done, Engineman will have regained control of the air in entire train, as before the break in train. This action will save valuable time, which otherwise may be spent in releasing the air on each car by hand.

Nothing gives a better appreciation of the challenges faced every day by O&W trainmen than reading the sometimes complex rules they had to memorize and live by.

  Although obviously essential to the Westinghouse Automatic Air Brake System, which worked off of compressed air, early locomotive steam-driven air pumps were finicky, high-maintenance items.  Oil cups clogged, check valves stuck, pump packings leaked, bushings worked loose, and internal steam passages became choked with sand, minerals, or other debris.  The pumps required considerable knowledge and skill on the part of both engineers and shopmen to operate them efficiently and to maintain them in good working order.

  Performing three different vital brake functions – brake application, brake release, and reservoir recharging – with a minimum of moving parts, the clever "triple valve" was the heart of the Westinghouse Automatic Air Brake System as applied to the O&W car fleet in the late 1890s.  Some railroad shopmen unfamiliar with the elegant inner workings of the design initially regarded the triple valve with suspicion, viewing it as something akin to mechanical witchcraft.  The cost of fitting out the O&W car fleet with the new air brakes doubtlessly included the price of sample triple valves sacrificed to the steam hacksaw -- puzzled railway mechanics often cross-sectioned a valve to figure out how something so apparently simple on the outside performed so many different and complex functions on the inside.  Westinghouse eventually resorted to supplying cut-away valve models to the railroads with which to educate the men, to save the railroads the cost of the installers cutting up their own sample valves.    

  ¹Westinghouse Automatic Air Brakes worked in response to changes in train line air pressure, rather than relying on absolute pressure levels like earlier "straight air" brake systems.  Westinghouse air brakes could be applied either by the Engineer in the locomotive or by the Conductor in the passenger cars or caboose.  Both had valves that could be opened to bleed air pressure out of the main train line and so apply the brakes. Braking force was supplied by compressed air from a reservoir tank hung under each car, which acted on a pneumatic cylinder and piston to force the beam-mounted brake shoes against the treads of the car wheels. The brakes were applied when compressed air from the car reservoir was admitted to the brake piston through the triple valve on each car, in response to the pressure in the main train line dropping below that remaining in the car reservoir.  When the operator wanted to release the brakes, the train line air pressure was pumped back up by the locomotive air pump until it rose above that now remaining in the car reservoirs. In response, the triple valve at each car reversed its setting, released the car brakes, and allowed the high-pressure air from the locomotive to recharge the car reservoirs.  The system was then ready for the next brake application.

²Setting the valve in this position routed air pressure around defective or leaking brake components on a car, in effect converting the brake system of that car to a straight-through bypass pipe that would still pass compressed air to the functioning brake equipment of the cars behind it in the train.

³If the train's air brakes were fully applied by bleeding off air pressure from the Conductor's valve without the engineer first closing the valve from the train line to the high-pressure air reservoir aboard the locomotive, all compressed air aboard the train would be lost. If the main reservoir remained connected to the train line during the stop, stopping time and distance were  greatly increased, as were the time and steam (costly fuel and water) used in replenishing the air in the main reservoir so that the brakes could be released. The train would not be able to release brakes and proceed until the locomotive air pump completely recharged the entire train's braking system.

⁴Doing this would have dumped all the air pressure from the  isolated portion of the train line running under the uncoupled cars.  This would have caused the air brakes on these cars to become set hard and made them unable to be released when it came time to switch or otherwise move the cars, except by manipulating the individual release cock on each and every car to completely release all the remaining air pressure from the brake cylinders and car reservoirs.

⁵This somewhat confusing advice seems to directly contradict the previous admonition to open the release cock; the rulebook was apparently trying to differentiate between lowering trainline pressure by opening the release cock of the auxiliary reservoir at each car (the desired action) and doing so by opening the individual car valves for the main train line (a less effective course of action).

⁶Admitting full steam pressure to a pump that contained condensation tended to blow the grease out of the pump packings, the bearings of which could then be damaged by being "worked dry" (run without lubrication) at high speed.  Locomotive air pumps, especially early models, were very maintenance-intensive items.

⁷The Westinghouse triple valve worked on a 2.5:1 ratio; that is, for every pound of air pressure reduction made in the main train line, 2.5 pounds of air pressure from the car reservoir was admitted to the car's brake piston.  Thus when twenty pounds reduction was made in the train line, fully 50 pounds of force was applied to the brake shoes, which was about the maximum useful braking pressure for composition brake shoes acting against steel wheels.  Any additional pressure reduction in the train line simply wore down the brake shoes and increased the time needed to pump up or release the brakes following the stop, without adding anything useful to the stopping force exerted by the brake shoes against the car wheels.

⁸This was to speed brake application and more economically facilitate eventual brake release -- see note 3.

⁹If the brake valve were held open too long and too much air released, the passengers in the rear cars could be thrown forward from their seats as the cars in front of them stopped hard before the brakes of the rear cars had time to begin to act.  This effect occurred even with advanced passenger car buffers and draft gear, such as the ubiquitous Miller safety platform that was applied to O&W passenger cars in about this same era. Air pressure differences could travel through the train line at only the speed of sound, and actually traveled at a bit less than that because of the shearing forces of the relatively viscous air against the walls of the narrow air pipes and backpressure inside the triple valves at each car.  Thus, the brakes in the cars at the front of the train came on well before those of the rear cars received the air pressure reduction signal to activate. (Students of nineteenth century railroading may notice that the O&W Operating Department apparently "borrowed" this portion of the text of the air brake chapter, verbatim and without attribution,  from the contemporary writings of a noted railway technologist.)

Rough stops did freight cars and their contents no improvement, either – particularly stock and cattle cars.  The unpleasant effect of delayed braking of the rear cars was magnified by longer train lengths, and actually caused train break-in-twos and derailments of the rear cars of some trains in the early days of air brakes before it was well understood. It was always better if the engineer made a long,  slow brake application rather than a quick, deep pressure reduction, as this allowed the brakes time to equalize along the length of the train, and so minimized running in-and-out of the coupler slack as the brakes were applied and released.  A skilled hand on the brake valve, coupled with enough knowledge of the line to anticipate the braking points well in advance, produced smooth brake applications that went unnoticed by both passengers and freight. 

The problem of delayed braking on the rear cars, due in part to inescapable laws of physics, has never been totally solved even to this day, but was greatly eased by making the air lines somewhat larger in diameter to speed air flow, and by the introduction of the improved K-brake triple valve in 1905.  The K valve was further improved upon by the KC brake system introduced in 1920.  In 1926 the KC was superceded by the AB system (mandated for all new cars built after 1933), which split the KC brake's integral triple valve control valve into two separate valves, and added an additional reserve air tank under each car.  The AB brake was a vast improvement over the K and KC brakes, and was mandated for all cars, new and old, by 1945. (The 1945 deadline was later extended until 1953, due to the rail system disruptions caused by World War II.)  Additional evolutions/improvements of the Westinghouse air brake were the ABD brake (1963), ABDW (1976), DB-60 (1988) and ABDX (1989), all introduced in an ongoing effort to perfect the intent of the original Westinghouse triple valve of 1887.

¹⁰This seemingly contradictory move reduced the air pressure in the air reservoirs of the cars still coupled to the locomotive.  When pressure fell in the train line as the result of opening the air into the empty air lines of the cars at the rear, the brakes on all the cars could be released using the now-higher pressure air from the main high-pressure air reservoir aboard the engine.