brake tender

noun

A railway vehicle which provided extra braking on freight trains with unfitted wagons (without automatic brakes) hauled by diesel locomotives, which being generally lighter than steam locomotives had less braking power. With the phasing out of unfitted wagons the brake tenders became redundant.

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Meanings

nounbrake tender (plural brake tenders)

plural brake tenders

  1. UKrail transportA railway vehicle which provided extra braking on freight trains with unfitted wagons (without automatic brakes) hauled by diesel locomotives, which being generally lighter than steam locomotives had less braking power. With the phasing out of unfitted wagons the brake tenders became redundant.

    By the beginning of April at least seven green-liveried diesel brake tenders had been delivered to Toton depot and were being tested with B.R. Sulzer Type 4 diesels.

    1962 June, “Motive Power Miscellany: London Midland Region”, in Modern Railways, page 423
Cite this entry
APA

brake tender. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brake%20tender

MLA

“brake tender.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brake%20tender. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “brake tender,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/brake%20tender.

Source: brake tender on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.