I was browsing through old issues of Model Railroader last week. On the rear cover of the October, 1950 issue there is an advertisement for HO scale Timken Roller Bearing freight car trucks.
.
These look just like Kadee #518 trucks. On the Kadee page it says these trucks are similar to a design used in the late 1950's.
Well, if the design dates back to LATE 1950's, why is there an add for them in a 1950 issue of Model Railroader?
Reason... I model 1954, and I have no roller bearing trucks on any of my freight cars. Apparently they were out there.
Should any freight cars in 1954 have roller bearing trucks? If so, which ones? I have a few boxcars painted for expedited service with build dates of March, 1954. Would these be a proper candidate?
Information is appreciated.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I looked through a copy of the 1953 Car Builders' Cyclopedia.
There is a drawing of a freight truck that looks very much like the Kadee #518.
I looked at pictures of "regular" boxcars and saw only trucks that appeared to be plain bearing.
Express boxes had either trucks that appeared to be plain bearing or passenger-style trucks--none like the #518.
I did see a UP stock car that had roller bearings, but the APPEARANCE of the trucks was "plain bearing".
There were certainly many freight cars NOT pictured in this book. There COULD have been cars with the #518 trucks. And there could have been cars that were roller bearing equipped with trucks that looked like they had plain bearings.
So. The trucks you are talking about were available for purchase in 1954. But I found no photos of cars using them.
I think, in the case of 1954, I wouldn't use these trucks.
Unless I found a photo implying that they WERE used in a particular case. Or if I just felt like it--perhaps under one car.
Ed
There was a date after which interchanged cars were required to have roller bearing trucks. It was common to retrofit bushing trucks with roller bearings. So you'd see a journal box with no cover, having a roller bearing inside it. I don't remember the changeover date, nor do I know how long the converted trucks were allowed or in common use.
Genesee Terminal, freelanced HO in Upstate NY ...hosting Loon Bay Transit Authority, run through Amtrak and CSX Intermodal
CP/D&H, N scale, somewhere on the Canadian Shield
Canalligators There was a date after which interchanged cars were required to have roller bearing trucks.
There was a date after which interchanged cars were required to have roller bearing trucks.
That was 1994.
In 1972, approximately 50% of cars had roller bearings.
Both dates are significantly later than 1954, the date of interest.
Well, way back then Athearn had an all-metal HO kit for a promotional boxcar that Timken owned and sent around the country advertising the advantages of roller bearings on freight cars. That was a real car.
Oddly enough at that time Athearn had a Symington roller bearing truck for sale but not a Timkin!
That might be why someone else was offering a genuine Timkin truck at the time.
Both the Timkin car and the Symington "freight car" truck are on this page of an old Athearn catalog
http://hoseeker.net/athearnstandardguide2/athearncatalogs/athearncatalog1952pg02.jpg
And the car had been in their HO and O catalog at least since 1948
http://hoseeker.net/AthearnBrochuresAds/brochure1948pg1.jpg
So yes, there were roller bearings on some freight cars circa 1950 but I am sure they were a rarity, likely more common on those freight cars that could also see service on passenger trains. By the mid-1960s roller bearing trucks were getting to be quite common but not universal - there were still plenty of solid bearing trucks out there but time was running out, even if regulations had not speeded the change over along.
It is kind of funny to read the 1961 Car Builder's Cyclopedia and read the advertisement from a company that made solid bearing journals that touted their "many advantages" over roller bearings and how many wonderful improvements had been made in solid bearing trucks making them just as good if not better than roller bearing trucks (not unlike the way the record companies made vast improvements in the playing quality of 78 rpm records even after the LP had been introduced). They were fighting a fight that in fact was already over. One wonders if they knew that deep in their hearts.
Dave Nelson
If you look more closely at the 1950 ad, the Athearn roller bearing trucks, you will see they are not like the Kadee 518 truck. The truck Athearn was advertising in 1950 was a Timken enclosed roller bearing, the Kadee 518 is a more modern "open" roller bearing, not introduced until about 1956/57.
Timken introduced the enclosed roller bearing in the 1930's, first applied to tenders, outside bearing pilot trucks, express reefers, passenger cars, etc.
They first promoted them for freight cars about the end of WWII, and were quickly applied to a number of special service cars.
Lindberg, Roundhouse, Athearn and others have modeled them over the years.
They have a round slanted cover, while the newer type, like the Kadee 518, have the round flat cap that spins with the axle.
Both trucks use a similar flat top modern sideframe, different from Bettendorf or other earlier solid bearing trucks.
Sheldon
That there was a Timken equipped and lettered boxcar does not mean there were boxcars equipped with roller bearings. It means Timken was TRYING to sell them. If they were already accepted, why bother?
As I said, in the 1953 Cyclopedia, I saw no boxcars equipped with trucks that evidenced roller bearings except those equipped with passenger style trucks.
I just thumbed over to the Timken ad (there are also ads for other roller bearing companies). There's a photo of the famous (to me) QNSL ore cars and one of a C&O triple hopper with what we would think of as typical roller bearing trucks. There's also two shots of cars with roller bearings where the trucks look exactly like plain bearing trucks.
My thought is that the dam was about to burst on roller bearing trucks in 1954 (the year of interest). I think they were used here and there.
The Timken ad has a list of railroads and cars with their roller bearings in the trucks (either "showing" or "hidden", keep in mind). Interesting reading.
C&O had 1001 triple hoppers (noted above) and ACL had 1325 pulp wood cars and 1621 covered hoppers. QNSL had 2000 of those ore cars, and UP had 800 stock cars and 200 ore cars (all the others are 100 or less). What do these 6 large groups of cars have in common? They seldom go off line.
Two reasons come to mind:
One is that they can keep an eye on them, maintenancewise.
Probably more likely is that if they stay on line, the railroad that paid extra for that wonderfulness also gets the benefits.
Looking over the whole list, not too many cars looked like free-roamers.
What this would mean is that, unless you're modeling one of those roads, you wouldn't likely ever see those cars. Thus, why model them?
7j43kThus, why model them?
The OP is a free-lancer, so he can pretty much put them on any car he wishes (I dont think he has a single car that contains a real railroad name).
7j43kThey seldom go off line.
Sounds perfect for free-lanced home road cars.
There were roller bearing arch bar trucks too, built in the late 1800's, but they were experimental and very rare.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
For some good info on early roller bearing freight trucks, as well as a few photos, there is a good article in the Model Railroad Hobbiest, May 2013.
Isolated use of enclosed bearings like the old Athearn truck started in the late 40's, as I indicated above.
Yes they were rare, and yes most often applied to cars in captive service.
Covered hoppers were one of the first car types to see a lot of rollier bearings - heavy payloads and bad operating conditions during loading/unloading.
The advancement of more 70 ton and 100 ton cars was the real driver for widespread use.
The 1953 75' piggyback flats were one of the first cars to use "modern" open roller bearing trucks.
Point is, not all roller bearing trucls look the same, older ones were enclosed, very few model versions of those, but they do exist.
Here is a photo of a 1947 example:
http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/acy/acy521w.jpg
BMMECNYC 7j43k Thus, why model them? The OP is a free-lancer, so he can pretty much put them on any car he wishes (I dont think he has a single car that contains a real railroad name). 7j43k They seldom go off line. Sounds perfect for free-lanced home road cars.
7j43k Thus, why model them?
7j43k They seldom go off line.
I didn't know that the OP runs almost exclusively freelance. But he did ask after typical practice. So I spoke about that.
I have noticed that many people who freelance a railroad still like to have characteristics consistent with prototype roads.
I agree that if Kevin has a string of, say, covered hoppers that run on-line in mineral service; he could put roller bearing trucks under them. Sounds like fun.
7j43k BMMECNYC 7j43k Thus, why model them? The OP is a free-lancer, so he can pretty much put them on any car he wishes (I dont think he has a single car that contains a real railroad name). 7j43k They seldom go off line. Sounds perfect for free-lanced home road cars. I didn't know that the OP runs almost exclusively freelance. But he did ask after typical practice. So I spoke about that. I have noticed that many people who freelance a railroad still like to have characteristics consistent with prototype roads. I agree that if Kevin has a string of, say, covered hoppers that run on-line in mineral service; he could put roller bearing trucks under them. Sounds like fun. Ed
Ed,
Agreed, they were not very common in 1953, I model that era as well.
But so many people think they did not exist at all. And there is the little detail of "type".
The "modern" open type, with the three bolt triangle, did not appear until 1953/54.
All prior versions, Symington, Timken, whoever, were closed covers like passenger car roller bearings, or like you pointed out, were inside conventional journal boxes.
It quickly became common practice to remove the covers on such conversions......
In fact, even though Athearn identified their closed cover rolling bearing truck as a Symington, various Timken versions looked nearly identical.
So on my "Prolanced" ATLANTIC CENTRAL, which interchanges with the B&O, C&O and WESTERN MARYLAND, you can find a few stratigicly on covered hoppers, piggyback flats, and other high speed and/or dirty service equipment - just like the prototype roads did at first.
WESTERN MARYLAND was also a big early user on covered hoppers starting in the early/mid 50's.
Four words:
New York Central Pacemaker
Ran Timken trucks in captive express service under box cars with a distinctive paint scheme. The service replaced a passenger schedule (same name) in 1946. By 1954 some of the cars had slipped out of the corral and were in general service.
Now all the OP has to do is find a Pacemaker box car...
In the meantime, the Japan National Railways developed a humongous roller bearing with an active lubricating system. Starting in 1962, these were applied to long cars (20 meters over sills) designed for 160kph (100mph) speed - on 42 inch gauge track. I have models that make up into one super-speed train, which runs once a 'week' or so. The rest of the time it lives in a cassette.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with roller bearings under log disconnects)
tomikawaTT Four words: New York Central Pacemaker Ran Timken trucks in captive express service under box cars with a distinctive paint scheme. The service replaced a passenger schedule (same name) in 1946. By 1954 some of the cars had slipped out of the corral and were in general service. Now all the OP has to do is find a Pacemaker box car... Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with roller bearings under log disconnects)
I have a dozen of them, some with roller bearing trucks, forgot all about them until you mentioned it. Photos show some with, and some without roller bearings.
I am a complete freelancer, but I am modeling 1954. These are the cars I was thinking of using roller bearing truck underneath. They are the STRATTON AND GILLETTE equivelent of NYC Pacemaker cars:
I might also put a pair of them under my only 75 foot TOFC car, but I doubt I will ever use it much.
Thank you for all of the answer and information.
See my response in the friction to roller bearing transition thread, June 21.
The ACY covered hopper shown in Sheldon's photo was intended for dedicated service, hauling soda ash for glass making, from Columbia Chemical in Barberton, Ohio. The shipments originated on the Akron & Barberton Belt (owned 25% by AC&Y), and most often went to Ball in Muncie, IN on a routing that included A&BB, AC&Y, NKP, and M&W. However, I have seen photos of these cars at other locations such as Pennsylvania, indicating that Ball was not the only destination.
During the time AC&Y operated these cars, they also operated that ex-Timken boxcar with roller bearings, as AC&Y boxcar 600; as well as roller bearing equipped gondola 1500. However, orders for 150 additional boxcars in 1951, and 200 more boxcars in 1955, all specified plain bearings.
Tom