Most of railroad freight cars use brake shoes directly applied onto the wheels. This system causes wheel heating, which in turn gives rise to thermal stresses and loss of mechanical strength. An alternate solution is a system of brake disks and pads, which would not heat the wheels, like disk brakes. Because temperature is one major factor affecting braking performance, a study of the viability of replacing shoe brakes by disk brakes must evaluate and compare the heating of wheels and disks. The present work evaluates the heating of disk-pad systems when used for braking freight cars in the same conditions regularly applied to shoe-wheel brakes. In addition, stop distance for both systems are evaluated for regular speeds of freight railroads. Preliminary numerical simulations were done to choose the critical brake condition and to check whether the expected temperatures would exceed the temperature limits, damaging the friction materials and systems. Following that, real scale tests were conducted in critical braking conditions for both types of brake systems. Dynamometer tests were performed in real scale at the Railroad Laboratory of the State University of Campinas, Brazil. Results showed that, as far as system heating is concerned, there is nothing to prevent the replacement of the current system by a disk-pad system. Besides, the stop distance for both systems is also in the recommended range. © 2014 by ASME.61 (1975) Engineering and Design of Railway braking Systems, , A.B.A., Air Brake Association, Air Brake Association, Chicago, ILRoza, L.C., (1989) Railroad Brake Systems Notes, , Mechanical Design Department, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Campinas, Campinas (SP), BrazilSantos, A.A., (1996) Determinação do Coeficiente Global de Transferência de Calor em Rodas Ferroviárias, , Ph.D. thesis, School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Campinas, Campinas (SP), BrazilWetenkamp, H.R., Eck, B.J., Rhine, P.E., The Influence of Brake Shoes on the Temperature of Wheels in Railroad Service (1980) ASME J. Eng. Ind., 102 (1), pp. 32-36(1988), IPT, Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnológicas, Private Report and Communication, São Paulo (SP), BrazilKim, M.S., Development of the Braking Performance Evaluation Technology for High-Speed Brake Dynamometer (2012) Int. J. Syst. Eng. Appl. Dev., 6 (1), pp. 122-129. , http://www.universitypress.org.uk/journals/saed/17-752.pdf(2002) Procedimento de Ensaio BD-01, , http://www.fem.unicamp.br/_lafer/lafer.htm, LAFER, Laboratório Ferroviário DPM-FEM-Unicamp, Railroad Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Design, University of CampinasM-926 Brake Shoes, High Friction Composition or Metal Type (1996) Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices, pp. E42-E50. , AAR, Association of American Railroads, Association of American Railroad, Washington, DCManocha, L.M., High Performance Carbon-carbon Composites (2003) Sadhana, 28 (1-2), pp. 349-358Aguila, Z.J., (1999) Formulação de Compósitos Reforçados com Fibras de Panox e Polpa de Aramida Utilizados em Materiais de Fricção, , Master Dissertation, School of Chemical Engineering, University of Campinas, Campinas (SP), Brazil(1984) Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices, , AAR, Association of American Railroads Association of American Railroad, Washington, DC, M-107 Wrought Carbon Steel Wheels(1985) Manual of Standards and Recommended Practices, , AAR, Association of American Railroads, Association of American Railroad, Washington, DC, M-208 Cast Carbon Steel WheelsWeaver, G.R., Archibald, P.A., Brenneman, E.B., Cabble, G.M., Investigation of Thermal Capacity of Railroad Wheels Using COBRA Brake Shoes (1969) Proceedings of ASME Winter Annual Meeting, , Los Angeles, CABerg, N.A., Kucera, W.J., A Review of Thermal Damage in Railroad Wheels (1970) Proceedings of Air Brake Association Annual Meeting (ABA),, , Chicago, ILBerg, N.A., Albert, R.H., Tread Braking Versus the Wheel (1972) Proceedings of Air Brake Association Annual Meeting (ABA),, , Chicago, ILWandrisco, J.M., Dewez, Jr., (1973) Study of Defects That Originate and Developed in the Treads of Railroad Wheels During Service, , ASME Railroad Conference, ASME, St. Louis, MO, Paper No. 60 RR-01Santos, A.A., Rodrigues Filho, F., (1995) Aquecimento em Rodas Ferroviárias Durante e após Frenagens Contínuas Prolongadas, , Proceedings of XIV Congresso Brasileiro de Engenharia Mecânica (COBEM), Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences, Belo Horizonte (MG), BrazilStone, D.H., Blaine, D.G., Carpenter, G.F., (1994) Effect of High Horsepower Grade Braking on AAR High Friction Composition Brake Shoes, , Proceedings of Air Brake Association Annual Meeting (ABA), Chicago, ILOlesiak, Z., Pyryev, Y., Yevtushenko, A., Determination of Temperature and Wear During Braking (1997) Wear, 210 (1-2), pp. 120-126Rodrigues Filho, F., Rodrigues, C., Roza, L.C., (1991) Novas Considerações Sobre a Dispersão da Força de Frenagem, , Proceedings of V Encontro Nacional de Freios - ENFRE, São Paulo (SP), BrazilHarstock, D.L., Fasch, J.W., Effect of Pad/Caliper Thickness and Pad Length on Thermo-Elastic Instability in Disk Brakes (1999) ASME J. Tribol., 122 (3), pp. 511-518Santos, A.A., Variação do Coeficiente de Atrito em Sapatas Ferroviárias e sua Influência sobre o Processo de Frenagem (1997) Proceedings of XV Congresso Brasileiro de Engenharia Mecânica (COBEM), , Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences, Bauru (SP), Brazil