Kozo K27 Brakes



This is one of a pair of brake hanger brackets that will mount on the lower frame rail between drivers 2 and 3 to support the brake shoes for driver 3. Another shorter pair will be required for the driver 1 brake shoe set. The brake shoes for drivers 2 and 4 are supported off of the frame fillers that were completed in the spring rigging step. October 12, 2018.


One of the brake hanger brackets that will sit in front of driver 1. November 12, 2018.


The four brake hanger brackets have been completed. November 25, 20118.


One of the brake cylinders has been turned to the final dimensions. A few holes will be required and tapping for the rear cover and mounting holes on the frame side. December 1, 2018.


The pair of brake cylinders have been fully machined with mounting holes. December 8, 2018.


Covers for the rear of the brake cylinders have been machined and attached. A hole is necessary in one of them for the push rod that will attach to the mechanical brake lever. December 9, 2018.


The two push rods for the brake cylinders have been machined and threaded. These will be inserted inside of the cylinders along with a return spring. December 10, 2018.


This shaft will run below the rear frame section and connect the brake cylinders up to the brake linkage. A small lever has been silver soldered at the center of the shaft for connecting the linkage. The levers that will be on each end of the shaft have also been started. These will connect up with the push rods in the previous photo. December 16, 2018.


The brake cylinder levers have been machined to the final shape. December 21, 2018.


The two brake cylinder lever shaft fulcrums have been machined and will receive a phosphor bronze bushing in the next step. December 22, 2018.


The phosphor bronze bushings for the pillow blocks are done and the ends for the cylinder push rods have been completed. A couple of 7/16 x 5" compression springs were purchased at a local hardware store and trimmed down to about 2 inches. These are hidden inside the brake cylinders and keep the brakes in the released position. This was the first test fit of the brake actuator assembly on the frame to check for a proper fit and everything lines up as expected. The levers still need to be pinned to shaft. December 27, 2018.


The eight driver brake shoes will be cut from this aluminum blank. The tread and flange grove has been cut on the inside and the pivot point for each shoe has been drilled. December 31, 2018.


The basic shape of the eight brake shoes after a little bit of milling. The next step is to use a slitting saw to cut out the shoes from the ring. January 5, 2019.


The eight brake shoes have been trimmed from the ring and are ready for further machining. The pivot bracket will need a slot for the hanger arm and a couple of minor cuts in the bracket. January 6, 2019.


The brake shoes have been slotted for the hanger, the hanger bracket ends have been shortened to make them distinct from the shoe ends and a notch has been cut for the positioning spring. January 13, 2019.


The 8 brake hanger pins have been machined which provide the pivot of the brake shoe hanger levers on the hanger brackets that mount to the frame. The pins are 5/32" SS reduced down to 1/8" on one end for the lever with a E-clip groove on each end. The pins are extra long to allow the brake shoe to float from side to side with movement of the drivers. February 18, 2019.


After a fairly long break all of the brake system pins have been completed. A total of 48 pins for the various levers in the brake system. April 27, 2019.


Four of the brake shoe levers have been completed with four more to go. The next set of four have a slightly different shape to them. April 28, 2019.


Three of the angled brake shoe hangers have been completed with one more to go. May 6, 2019.


The next set of parts will be the brake beams with three more to machine. These are close to 4" long x 0.5" x 0.18". May 18, 2019.


The four brake beams have been completed. May 19, 2019.


An equalizer and three of the slap links have been machined. May 26, 2019.


The six slap links have been cut out and drilled. They will require a slot on each end to complete. May 27, 2019.


The six slap links have been slotted and fit to the brake beams. The front beam does not require slap links. June 2, 2019.


A set of six pull rod joints have been roughed out with a radius on the end and bored for a 1/8" pin. These will need to be slotted to allow the brake beams to pass through them and have a threaded hole in the end for the pull rod. June 9, 2019.


The brake pull rod joints have been slotted, machined down on the pin end and threaded on the square end to accept the 1/8" diameter pull rods. July 20, 2019.


A set of eight pull rod ends have been cut out and the next step is to silver solder the 1/8" diameter rods to the square end. July 21, 2019.



The pull rod ends have been soldered to a 1/8" diameter rod and the rods have been threaded to attach to the pull rod joints. July 28, 2019.


The main pull rod is 5/32" diameter just over 11" and is soldered on one end with a threaded connection at the other. August 3, 2019.


A set of brake equalizers that will be used to connect all of the pull rods to the brake beams. August 4, 2019.


The assembled pull rod and brake beam system before installing on the locomotive. August 4, 2019.


The completed brake system installed on the locomotive with many pins and E-clips. August 4, 2019.