VOL. 53 No. 4

OCTOBER 1912

Plate XXXI-Type K Freight Triple Valve (Diagrammatic View)Restricted Release Position With "Uniform Recharge."

Plate XXXI of the New York Air Brake Series of the Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen's Magazine Educational Charts represents in a diagrammatic view the Type K Freight Triple Valve with the operative parts in the RESTRICTED RELEASE POSITION, in which position it also provides for the Restricted Recharge of the auxiliary reservoir, and as this position is only taken automatically by the "K" triple valves on the cars in the forward portion of the train, when the brake pipe is recharged, these dual functions afford-in point of time a more nearly uniform release of the braking power and uniform recharge of the auxiliary reservoirs of the entire train, than was possible in the use of the former styles of quick-action triple valve.

Without these functions in subject, if the brakes on a freight train were re

leased while it was running at any slow speed up to 12 miles an hour, the effect of the quick and full release of the brakes on the forward cars before the recharge had reached the rear cars, was that the surging ahead of the forward end of the train while the rear end was going slower under the power of theas yet-unreleased brakes, would invariably part the train; and the same result would be had when an engineer might try to start a long freight train from a dead stop too quickly after placing his brake valve in release position. The function of Restricted Release, autooperative in the "K" triple valves on the head cars, prevents this trouble by not affording complete release until about the same time that the brakes at extreme rear of train are fully off.

Without the Restricted Recharge feature, during the charging or recharging of the brake pipe those auxiliary reservoirs on the forward cars, getting the air first and under a higher driving head of pressure, would become overcharged-in comparison with the pressure charge of