This section is from the book "The Home Cyclopedia Of General Information", by Charles Morris. Also available from Amazon: Home Cyclopedia of Necessary Knowledge.
A brake now used on railroad cars and engines, invented in 1869, by George West-inghouse, of Pittsburg. Air is compressed by the steam of the engine boiler, and carried in tubes to the car wheels, where it exerts its pressure on the brakes when it is desired to stop the train. (See Brake.)
 
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