Belperpete
Established Member
- Joined
- 17 Aug 2018
- Messages
- 1,650
Agreed, it is nothing like putting your foot on a brake pedal in a car. When the first tender wheels dropped off there will have been a "what the **** was that?" moment in the cab, and a delay while the crew realised what had happened. There will then have been a delay in them applying the brake, and a further delay in the brake becoming effective.Not an expert at all, but the controls on a steam locomotive are very crude devices mechanically and it is the skill of the drivers to get a smooth operation. To get the steam brake or vacuum brake to have an effect is a matter of several seconds, unless they are already being gently applied.
It is possible that as the loco was only going slowly, and if the tender wheels were well-enough sprung, they may have thought it a rough joint, and only realised what was happening when the second set of wheels went off.