The Gallery: Week 73 – Shoes

So.  Shoes, the lady asks for, and shoes, she – and you, gentle reader – will get.  Even though I’m no great collector of them.  I count myself fortunate to find a matching pair, with non-snapped laces, as and when  I need them.  but what about these?

You see, sometimes, not only feet, but also wheels, have shoes.  But, unlike a smart pair of stilettos, ladies, they’re no fashion accessory.  In fact, they spend their working life hidden away inside a metal drum which spins with the wheel, the shoes themselves being mounted on a backplate.  Whenever a hydraulically-operated system pushes them outwards, the friction thus set up between shoes and drum slows the vehicle.

Although, increasingly, cars are now being equipped with disc brakes on all wheels, drums and shoes, many times bigger than these here, are still used on heavy goods vehicles – and stopping one of those is no mean task!  Just think how many shoes there are on a road tanker!  Oh, and the driver has a pair, too.

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