Air Brakes

[Nick_Burman]

Recently while re-reading Small's Rails to the Rising Sun for the umpteenth time (always a pleasure to do so), I noticed that several steam locomotives on private railways seemed to lack any kind of air braking...for instance the two locomotives of Kashima Railway's Ryugasaki line had no air pumps nor brake lines. Let alone Jobu #8...which had air lines but no air pump! The Ryugasaki line is flat as a pancake so steam brakes might work OK, however how was this lack of braking looked at by the regulatory authorities?

 

Cheers NB

[marknewton]

Good question. I don't know anything about the regulatory aspects, but I'd say the trains were braked in the traditional Pommy British fashion. Steam brake on the loco, and the poor old guard winding on the handbrake in the van like a bastard. That's where the term "brake van" comes from! 

 

I've had some practical experience of this on the old South Maitland Railway. If everyone is paying attention and knows what they're doing, it's surprisingly effective.

 

As for Jobu No.8, I've always been intrigued as to why anyone would bother putting a through-pipe on a loco. But I noticed that it still has what looks very much like a vacuum brake valve and the remains of ejector pipework, presumably from it's JGR days. Lovely little loco, BTW.

 

Good to know, too, that I'm not the only one who's wearing out my copy of "Rails to the Rising Sun".

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.