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Business View Magazine
New York Air Brake
The global leader in heavy haul freight solutions
In the movies, there’s nothing quite as exciting as a
runaway train. Since the days of the silent one-reel-
ers, right up until to the latest Hollywood blockbuster
- filmed in 3D and delivered in body-blasting, sense-
around sound - the notion of a giant iron behemoth
on wheels going berserk at breakneck speed on some
track to nowhere, somehow inspires the movie-making
muse and, if carried out artistically, is capable of pro-
viding an audience with great thrills.
In real life, however, a runaway train is never anything
to cheer about. It’s easy to be captivated by the imagi-
nary drama of a speeding train careening in and out
of danger from the safety of a seat in the balcony. But
the real life consequences of a multi-ton locomotive,
pulling cars and cars of heavy freight, and not being
able to slow down or stop when it’s supposed to, can
be deadly serious.
Train wrecks almost always cause widespread proper-
ty damage – and, sometimes, even injury and death.
It’s why safety has always been a necessary guiding
principle of the railroad industry and all who work for,
in, or with it. And while engineers and inventors have
always tried to figure out ways to make a train run
faster, they’ve also had to design the complementary
