eli5 Why do trains with steel wheels have traction on steel rails, but if your brakes on your car are used up and become steel on steel they dont work anymore?
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Trains are extremely heavy and have many wheels but they still take a long time to come to a stop. With full emergency braking a train can take up to a mile to come to a stop. That usually destroys the wheels or at least damages them with that they need to be repaired. The train has the benefit of having a right of way where things usually won’t get in the trains way but that’s why you’re not supposed to try to go around train crossings. Trains can not slow down to avoid running people over, it’s impossible in the space available
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