The Whetstone Valley Railroad Historical Society owns 3 old Barney & Smith cars. They were built in 1911 and 1913 for the Soo Line RR. The brakes on these cars have to be checked every 12 months. We were thinking about converting them to a newer style of brakes. Has anyone done that to a car and how did you do it. Any parts reusable? Cost?<br>



warrey@tnics.com

The older air brake valves can be serviced thru Pittsburgh Air Brake. They are not too expensive, but are slow. Why not keep the original equipment on the cars and maintain their historical integrity ? Have you had a problem getting the parts to service the existing systems ?<p>Older passenger cars have been converted to AB freight car brake systems, but unless the valves are unserviceable or the car will run on Amtrak, why change ? There's plenty of effort involved in refitting a car with AB brakes.<br>