I’d enjoy learning about it, too.I'd love to learn about that.
You know that behavior of “we insiders know, and you outsiders don’t know?” It’s really strong in the RR world.
You cited the Westinghouse air brake development, and that it was a long time ago.
Since that time there has been rather limited change in braking.
That’s my outsider ass hat knowledge.
If you learn more, please inform us.
Footnote: Have you not_noted the numerous PSAs played for years on radio and TV?: “It can take a train over a mile to stop.”. No, it’s not _great. But apparently, it’s the best that your train brake engineer buddies can do, while keeping things economical and mildly reliable.