A particulate trap system for an internal combustion engine includes a plurality of contiguous porous walls, and a remotely actuated relief valve downstream of said trap for periodically creating a reverse pressure throughout the exhaust system upstream of the relief valve and including said trap. A reversing apparatus periodically creates a reverse pressure drop across a portion of the contiguous porous walls of said trap to dislodge accumulated particulate and cause a portion of the filtered exhaust gas to flow back through said portion of the contiguous porous walls to remove particulate therefrom. A control system actuates the relief valve and the reversing apparatus. In one embodiment the system is utilized on a vehicle and the reversing apparatus includes a relief valve that is also operative as an exhaust brake. Regeneration includes the steps of: creating a backpressure in the entire exhaust system from a location downstream of the trap; creating a reverse pressure drop across only a portion of the porous walls to dislodge accumulated particulate therefrom; and causing a portion of filtered exhaust gas to flow back through said portion of the porous walls to carry the dislodged particulate out of the trap.