A powered hand brake for locomotive brakes that latches a brake chain into a locked position after the brake cylinder has applied the locomotive brakes. A computer controlled brake system may be interconnected to the brake cylinder and the latch and programmed to set the latch into the latched position when the brake cylinder has moved the locomotive brake into the applied position. An actuator is coupled to the brake chain to take up slack in the brake chain as the brake chain moves between the first and second positions. The actuator can comprise a motor or a tensioning cylinder that takes up slack in the brake chain after the brakes have been applied. Alternatively, the actuator may comprise a linkage connecting the brake chain to the locomotive brake so that the slack in the brake chain is taken up as the brakes are applied.