Some time back there was a post about how air brakes work. This may be a great improvement. FORT WORTH, Texas - A BNSF coal train equipped with electronically controlled pneumatic brakes departed Wyoming's Powder River Basin coal fields bound for Southern Co.'s power plant near Birmingham, Ala. BNSF has tested the equipment on intermodal and iron ore trains in the past.
Electronically controlled pneumatic brakes use an electronic signal to cause all brakes in the train to apply simultaneously. With standard air brakes, the brakes on the first cars in the train apply before the cars behind them, causing slack action. New