Book excerpt: Competitive Tests of Air Brakes is a detailed report on a series of tests conducted on air brakes manufactured by the Westinghouse Air Brake Co. and the New York Air Brake Co. in the late 19th century. Featuring detailed data and analysis, as well as historical context, this book is an invaluable resource for railway engineers, historians, and enthusiasts. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.