zlacker

> "just short the generator coils and you have a free brake"

You'll soon end up with a burning/melted generator.

> "pump some water in a loop"

OK, but you're going to need huge pumps (1000+ MW!). Expensive.

> "or discharge through some resistors"

Again, you'll need extremely large resistors, and a way to dissipate an awful lot of heat. We're talking about a huge amount of energy here!

>>Reason+(OP)
sadly, my searches for "gigawatt resistor" and "gigawatt electric load" have been fruitless.

>>Reason+(OP)
Pump water in a loop through a radiator to cool the braking generators and the resistor bank :P

Could try also melting some salt on the side.

>>Scound+w2
try "reserve ultimate heat sink" instead of "gigawatt resistor"