Railroad Friction Products manufactures COBRA® composition brake shoes, high-friction and low-friction, specialty shoes, and disc brake linings for freight, locomotive and transit vehicles.

High and low friction composition brake shoes for locomotive equipment and brake systems

COBRA® composition brake shoes in high friction, low friction and TreadGuard® designs, meet the individual friction requirements of your equipment and brake systems. COBRA brake shoes vary in design and target specific areas to reduce or eliminate expensive operational and maintenance issues. Low friction composition brake shoes serve as a direct replacement for cast iron shoes.

readGuard brake shoes were designed to address wheel removals due to shelling, spalling and high impacts. COBRA brake shoes provide distinct benefits for a wide range of freight car and locomotive applications.

COBRA TreadGuard brake shoes were developed by Railroad Friction Products to combat wheel removals from shelling, spalling and high impacts.

TreadGuard is a value-added brake shoe with many benefits, including conditioning and cleaning the wheel tread and improving rail to wheel adhesion.

The TreadGuard locomotive brake shoe has exposed inserts for immediate effectiveness.

For over a decade, COBRA TreadGuard brake shoes have proven to increase wheel life.

COBRA brake shoes vary in design and target specific areas to reduce or eliminate expensive operational and maintenance issues.

Brake shoes for heavy braking

For over a decade, COBRA TreadGuard brake shoes have been proven to be an effective method to increase wheel life. The newly introduced COBRA TreadGuard HiCap brake shoes offer the unique benefits of the traditional TreadGuard shoe, but are now built especially for high capacity applications. Designed for today’s heavier cars with higher net braking ratios, TreadGuard HiCap maintains a cool temperature, plus improves resistance to brake fade.

Field tests have proven that COBRA TreadGuard brake shoes can minimize wheel removal due to shelled tread, out-of-round conditions, wheel bearing failures and high impacts. Dynamometer tests demonstrate that TreadGuard HiCap brake shoes maintain their friction level, while standard brake shoes may fade, under M-997 heavy grade conditions. These benefits could save your company time and money.

Low friction locomotive brake shoes for improved stopping performance

COBRA low friction locomotive brake shoes are made with a composition material that is a direct replacement for cast iron. These materials are designed to provide superior stopping performance, and efficient smooth stops to reduce wheel damage caused by over aggressive cast iron materials.

Friction materials for truck wedges

Railroad Friction Products applies friction materials to truck wedges to help control and eliminate abnormal shifting of the railcar in transit subsequently damaging the load. This is particularly necessary in the movement of railcars that are transporting critical and sensitive consumer goods. The types of cars these products are prevalent on include:

• Auto-racks
• Electronic consumer goods
• Ride- sensitive products

Another benefit of this product is the reduction of abnormal wear on the truck wear plates.

Disc pads for all braking systems

COBRA disc pads are available for pneumatic and hydraulic applications. They are manufactured in various sizes and shapes that are designed to fit your braking system. A broad selection of friction materials enable Railroad Friction Products to meet the specific braking requirements established for your equipment. Newly developed friction materials have increased disc pad and disc rotor wear life while maintaining the required braking requirements.