We study the problem of braking of heavily loaded railway wheels and their thermomechanical fracture. The wheels have the form of thick disks weakened by small surface cracks. They are periodically braked with friction in a random sequence of time intervals. The stresses formed in the course of braking and subsequent cooling attain the plasticity limit of the rail-wheel steel in tension and compression. It is shown that, for locally heated and cooled disks, the cycles of thermomechanical loading and unloading are responsible for the growth of fatigue cracks. The corresponding fatigue curves are computed.