Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Comet Brakes Make Their Final Stop


That is the most brakes I have seen on a truck!
Yesterday afternoon, Velocity magnetics delivered the nine brake sections that will eventually be installed on the 61 year-old Comet. These sleek new brake sections are stacked along the Comet's brake run as two of Waldameer's excelent maintenance staff remove about 175 feet of track steel along the brake run and station. Removing the running steel will allow the new brake sections to be bolted underneath the track stack.

So shiny and new!
Tomorrow, a member of the Velocity Magnetics' maintenance staff will be on site to help install a few of the new brakes. This won't be an easy task. Each brake section weighs about 700lbs each and if you know the Comet, some of the brake run is built over a small ravine. If you ask how our guys are going to install these cumbersome brakes, they all will reply, "Very carefully."

1 comment :

Unknown said...

This is very interesting. It's the first time I have ever seen a skid brake section built as a big steel unit like that. Will the station brakes be magnetic, or partially magnetic as well to control the train speed, or just friction to hold the train in place?