Is a Train Harder to Stop Than to Start?
The answer is yes. It is harder to stop a train than to start it, or rather it takes more power. The speed of a train depends upon the motive power. When a train is stopped and you wish to start it, you must apply enough motive power to start it going. There must be enough power to move the weight of the train and overcome the friction of the wheels on the track. It is, of course, easier to move a thing that weighs less than a heavier one. If you throw a ball ten feet into the air, it will perhaps not sting your hand when you catch it on its return; but, if you throw it one hundred feet into the air, it will sting your hands when you catch it. Besides, it will come down faster the last ten feet of the way than the ball which you threw only ten feet into the air. This is because when movement is applied to anything you add power to it. The ball which comes down from one hundred feet in the air acquires more power in falling and it takes more power to stop it. A train in motion has not only the power of the weight of the train behind it, but also the additional weight which the movement of the train has given it. Therefore, it takes more power to stop it than to start it. To stop a train you must apply the same amount of power as is in the moving train because the power to stop any moving thing must always be at least as great as the power which is moving it.