David G. Blaine

David G. Blaine, P.E., known internationally for his accomplishments in railroad braking and also within rail history circles for decades, has received the ASME History and Heritage Engineer-Historian Award for 1992, for his series on railroad brakes published in Trains, October 1975-January 1976. Known as the Westinghouse Air Brake Story, the series ran in October, with "The Importance of Being Able to Stop"; in December, "Load-to-Tare Ratios vs. Braking"; and in January, "Post-Zephyr Braking."

Blaine's articles are recognized widely by rail enthusiasts and historians as both comprehensive and entertaining. An excerpt from the first article colorfully describes an 1860s' situation: "In an emergency situation, the fireboy grabbed a club or pick handle and pulled up the tender's hand brake as hard as he could while the engineman reversed the engine and applied steam. Hopefully, there was time to whistle 'danger--downbrakes' and for the brakemen to get a number of cars applied hard--if the men hadn't joined the birds to avoid an impending collision. Wildly slipping drivers rotating in reverse and skidding tender wheels didn't provide a great deal of retardation, but that was all an engine crew could do."

An ASME Life Member and a Senior Member of IEEE, David Blaine, now a consultant for the Association of American Railroads in Chicago, spent the bulk of his career actively involved in the design, testing, and field application of pneumatic and electro-pneumatic braking equipment for WABCO (Westinghouse Air Brake Company), Chicago. His technical papers are used as references by railroad air brake supervisors.

Blaine received his BSME in railway mechanical engineering in 1941 from Purdue University. His interest in rail began, perhaps, during his college years at the University of California in Los Angeles, when Blaine worked part-time for the Southern Pacific.