air brake type subsidiary founded 1890 headquarters watertown new york united states products control valves control modules data management systems hose assemblies and various freight car components revenue 165 million usd 2005 parent knorr bremse website www.nyab.com the new york air brake corporation located in watertown new york is a manufacturer of air brake and train control systems for the railroad industry worldwide . contents 1 history 1.1 establishment 1876 1900 1.2 expansion and a new plant 1900 1914 1.3 world war i and the depression 1915 1940 1.4 world war ii 1940 1945 1.5 general signal & mass transit 1967 1988 1.6 knorr bremse and the modern era 1991 present 2 products 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit nyab on its old location at beebee island establishment 1876 1900 edit new york air brake was established on july 1 1890 acquiring all of the property and business of eames vacuum brake company . eames vacuume brake company had previously been in existence since 1876 manufacturing vacuum brakes . the new company erected ten new buildings on beebee island and nearby shores just in time for a booming brake market driven by an 1893 law mandating standardized brakes for all railroad cars . expansion and a new plant 1900 1914 edit in 1902 nyab bought the 268 acre 1.08 km2 poole farm in watertown ny and began its move to its present location . the new works were planned as a model industrial enterprise providing housing work and recreation for 1 000 employees on the grounds . the workers however decided that they did not want to live next door to their workplace and the plan was scrapped . in 1903 the new foundry became the first part of the new plant to begin operations . during this period nyab s main competition was westinghouse air brake company which lead the market in locomotive braking sales . despite westinghouse s lead american railroads preferred to have two brake suppliers . james hill builder of the great northern railway and the new york central railroad were especially supportive of new york air brake s technology . in 1912 nyab and westinghouse agreed to share the market along with research and development . nyab s 25 percent share of the brake market soared to 3 million per year by 1914 . world war i and the depression 1915 1940 edit 155mm shells one of the many items produced during the wwi period in 1915 nyab shifted focus of their current manufacturing of vacuum brakes to efforts toward the first world war . sales grew from 4.7 million in 1915 to 24 million in 1916 . by 1918 the company employed 7 000 who were involved in defense manufacturing including the production of horse drawn cannons . after world war i it was decided that a new braking system needed to be developed to provide braking power for the ever growing freight train industry . engineers at new york air brake contributed to the development of what came to be known as the ab brake . during the mid 1930s at the same time the ab brake was being widely implemented the pneumatic and electro pneumatic braking equipment for modern high speed locomotives and passenger trains were engineered and produced at the watertown facilities . a dramatic drop in sales following the end of world war i led new york air brake to seek new markets . in 1919 the company built and marketed a three point truck ; an enormous affair the four wheels alone weighing nearly one ton . the machine had a 15 foot 4.6 m wheelbase and an overall length of 19 feet 5.8 m . it weighed about 8 100 pounds and had a carrying capacity of from three to six tons ... it was not a success . in 1925 new management announced another try at the auto industry with the introduction of the gerlinger hydraulic lumber carrier ; an engine and a cab set high atop a lumber rack . the project faded quickly . new york air brake gauges to control a rotair valve westinghouse air brake 1 westinghouse and new york air brake began development of a replacement for the venerable k brake in 1929 . the great depression slowed but did not stop development of the new brake and in april 1932 new york air brake began construction of a 200 car test track the largest in the world . in 1934 the association of american railroads aar voted to adopt the new composite ab brake . despite the depression the company maintained employment for 300 workers many on a part time basis . world war ii 1940 1945 edit in 1945 new york air brake again returned to aiding the united states war effort in world war ii . up until the end of the war nyab became a producer of tank hulls for the sherman tank anti aircraft shells automatic pilots for aircraft breech mechanisms for guns hydraulic pumps for fighter aircraft and other military hardware and had over 5 000 employees contributing to the war effort in the war torn europe by the end of 1944 . by the end of the second world war new york air brake had expanded its product line to include hydraulic aircraft pumps . in 1949 the company furthered its market reach with the purchase of the hydraulic equipment company dudco products company . as a result sales leapt from 18 million in 1950 to more than 45 million in 1957 . citation needed general signal & mass transit 1967 1988 edit on june 15 1967 nyab merged with general signal corporation . in 1980 congress passed the staggers act which deregulated the railroad industry . as a result of the ending of tax breaks for railroad car ownership new car and brake orders plummeted from 96 000 in 1979 to 5 800 in 1983 . in november 1982 the company put into effect a series of workforce cutbacks that enabled nyab to survive this difficult time . meantime new york air brake s lobbying in albany ny landed a trial run with the new york city transit system . the company was allowed to equip one car with one set of brakes . one trouble free year later new york air brake signed a 25 million contract to provide brake systems and controls for new york transit the beginning of a decade of providing brakes to commuter lines . by 1990 new york air brake had furnished 100 million worth of equipment for more than half of new york city s subway cars before nyab s transit division was established as the knorr brake company and moved to westminster maryland . knorr bremse and the modern era 1991 present edit on january 2 1991 knorr bremse acquired new york air brake s rail braking business from general signal however they did not purchase stratopower or dynapower . knorr bremse is a maker of braking systems for rail and truck vehicles . by the end of 1993 nyab stopped manufacturing the westinghouse brake in favor of knorr bremse s improved db 60 air brake featuring poppet valve technology . consolidation of operations into one building tax abatements and state funding kept the company in watertown . since its acquisition nyab has modernized under knorr bremse creating the most technologically advanced rail brake manufacturing facility in north america . citation needed at the end of 2009 nyab operations included train dynamic systems tds in irving texas knorr brake limited in kingston ontario a brake shoe manufacturer a brake hose manufacturer and two service centers in little rock arkansas and riverside kansas city missouri . products edit db60 pneumatic control valve ccb ii computer controlled brake ep60 electronically controlled pneumatic brakes ecp leader locomotive engineer assist display & event recorder is an on board computer display and off board data management system designed to improve train handling and save fuel . air hose products freight car components el 60 elrp protects wheels by reducing braking forces on empty cars tmb60 parallelogram locomotive brake design csctd computerized single car test device is a portable air brake test system tds 5000 operations and training simulation and analysis system see also edit eames vacuum brake vacuum brake references edit welcome to saskrailmuseum.org . contact us . september 11 2008 . retrieved 2008 10 03 . external links edit new york air brake official site knorr bremse official site v t e knorr bremse people georg knorr products mg35 36 machine gun new york air brake companies bendix corporation westinghouse brake and signal company ltd v t e railway brakes types counter pressure brake countersteam brake dynamic brake eddy current brake electromagnetic brake exhaust brake heberlein brake hand brake kunze knorr brake railway air brake railway disc brake regenerative brake steam brake track brake vacuum brake manufacturers faiveley transport knorr bremse new york air brake westinghouse air brake company westinghouse brake and signal company ltd other aspects brake van diesel brake tender diesel electric locomotive dynamic braking electronically controlled pneumatic brakes electro pneumatic brake system on british railway trains emergency brake train retarder dowty retarders related topics air brake bicycle brake brake dead man s switch drum brake engine braking hydraulic brake pneumatics railroad safety appliance act united states vehicle brake retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title new york air brake & oldid 737339337 categories companies based in new yorkhidden categories all articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from april 2010 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages deutsch edit links this page was last modified on 2 september 2016 at 04 02 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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