trucks

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Mr Burnett wrote:

Those things were always covered with oil which had been slung up from the pair of wheels just ahead of the caboose.  And I have seen cabooses with oil spattered on the rear of the carbody, above the level of the steel plates !

Again I learned something new. All these years I’ve been aware of those shields, I thought they were to protect against water being thrown up from the wheel tread. It seems I was about three inches off. 

Thanks to all the experienced guys for sharing little (and big) details about days gone by. 

Matt Goodman
Columbus, Ohio

Sent from my mobile

On Dec 26, 2024, at 1:46 PM, NW Mailing List via NW-Mailing-List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org> wrote:


Asketh Comrade Cochranov:
 
........................
Abe and Jimmy,
Thanks for the responses.and I agree with your reasoning, but still, one
thing niggles at me.  If it's dust, why doesn't it coat the faces of the
wheels as well?  Seems like they would have been as greasy/oily as the
trucks and just as apt to attract the light gray dust.  Would there have
been some part of their operation that might have kept them "cleaner"?
Thanks again,
Jim
........................
 
Answereth  Abramo-in-da-Turnip-Patch:
 
Me thinks you'se are tryin' to put us OldGezers to the test, James, axxxx'ing us such hard questions.  Be warned that both Mr. Lisle and I are card-carrying members of the Old Geezers' Benevolent Protective Association, and anything you say may be used against you in a court of law, in the implementation of "street justice," or whatever other actions may be necessary...  Just sayin'.
 
The area of a wheel between the center hole for receiving the axle, and the tread, is called the "plate" of the wheel.   In the days of friction journals, journal box oil leaked down the plates of the wheels, and any white powder which would have attached to the oily  wheel plate would have been blackened by the oil, because it was thick and darkish greenish-black.  Journal oil was what created the clouds of smoke which used to attend the braking of trains on grades: the wheels because hot and the oil began breaking down under the heat.  Wheel plates today are clear of this stuff.  But in the days of friction bearings, you could scrape the grease and crud off with a putty knife.
 
Roller Bearings did not completely replace friction bearings until sometime in the 1980s.  The railroads agreed on a certain date at which friction bearings would no longer be accepted in interchange service, but I do not recall when that was.  Mr.Gordon Hamilton probably has that date at his fingertips.  I do recall that the N&W was still oiling cars being shoved up the Shaffers Crossing Hump when I left the N&W in 1979.  And I clearly recall that when I was Night Trainmaster at Philadelphia in 1980, we were running westbound trains of peletized Venezuelan iron ore off the ore docks, using friction bearing Ore Jennies.  So friction bearings are not ancient history.  [ Those ore trains were a sight to see:  all the smoke (engines) we could put on the head end, and at Altoona they got one set of helpers ahead, TWO sets of helpers in the middle of the train, and TWO more sets of helpers on the rear end !  This was really no sweat, because we had 23 advertised helper crews each day, and called extra helper crews as needed.)
 
Places at which lime and cement were routinely loaded:  Lone Star Cement on the Cloverdale Branch,  Calera (?) Siding north of Buchanan, Blue Ridge, and a few other places I can no longer recall.  Also, places which received cement and lime in covered hoppers had to discharge it through the bottom hopper doors, and that made a lot of dust, too.  So, any concrete ready-mix plant is a candidate.
 
Truck frames were not coated by journal oil because they were out of the plane of rotation of the wheels.  The wheels slung loose oil in a plane parallel to the rails.   To see evidence of this, look at the end platform of any N&W caboose and you will see, fastened to the vertical pipework, two transverse vertical steel plates, one on either side of the drawhead,  beginning at about the level of the platform (walkway,) and extending upward perhaps three and one-half feet.  Those things were always covered with oil which had been slung up from the pair of wheels just ahead of the caboose.  And I have seen cabooses with oil spattered on the rear of the carbody, above the level of the steel plates !
 
Mr. Lisle and I are now retiring to the Old Geezer's Club for an afternoon of drinkin' tea and playin' checkers.  He is buying.  Come on down and join us, and we will tell you some more whopper stories.  We offer quality advice on farming, horse racing, the lottery, and women, too !
 
-- abram burnett,
 Port and Starboard Turnips, LLC
.
 
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