Talk:Countersteam brake

Slide valves
"Countersteam braking is however only achievable with piston valves. On simple slide valves, no opposing steam admission is possible due to the way they are constructed." I don't think this is true. With British shunting engines (which usually had slide valves) experienced drivers frequently used the reverser rather than the brake. Slide valves would only leak if the pressure in the cylinder was higher than the pressure in the steam chest. This would be the case with a Counter-pressure brake but not with a Countersteam brake. Can anyone confirm or reject this? Biscuittin (talk) 15:44, 19 January 2009 (UTC)