this post was submitted on 03 Nov 2025
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Started is with, as you see, 3 to 5 massive diesel-electric engines, taking quite a while to max speed. Modern railways have electric engines that do the same but with better torque and traction, but we don't have modern railways in America.
Stopping is interesting. The engines have their own brakes, but three engines can't stop a train that long by themselves, the brakes would just melt. They are set mostly like a parking brake when you are already stopped.
The actual brakes are air brakes, with a tube of compressed air connecting from the front of the train to the back. Each car has its own brakes then that are applied as pressure is released from the brake system. Going into emergency brake is essentially all pressure being released and all brakes throughout the entire train engaging, and that is what we are seeing here.
With that though, the train is still tens of thousands of tons of mass moving at a max track speed of 55mph. It's going to take some time to slow that down, even with every brake being applied.
Don't fuck around with trains.