Back in the '50s how would the railroad have transported wheels, flat car or gon... maybe some other? How would they have unloaded such heavy items at the roundhouse or machine shop?
On to track bumpers.
(see photo)
I'm assuming the diagonal piece is metal and all the rest is wood? Or would it be all metal?
Jarrell
Unloading wheels would be using some type of crane. Maybe a fork lift. Transporting could be either flat or gon. Wheels on a flat would be the easiest to load/unload and would have to be tied down and blocked. The same might be true of a gon.
I painted my track bumpers rust thinking they are welded metal. I don't think wood would slow down, never mind stop a rolling car.
Bob
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Car wheels: Gons and Flats, and I think coil cars. Railroads used older wrecking cranes that were relagated for shop duty to unload them, and post cranes.
Car stops: depending on the era, All wood, wood/steel Hybrid, all steel, and concrete.
As a kid I once watch the C&O unloading some wheels at the Parson Ave shops.They used a Burro crane.
http://www.trainweb.org/chessiephotos/photos/mow/crane08.jpg
Larry
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The type of bumpers in your picture would be painted black when new, then rust in places, depending on how long it's been since they were installed. They are welded steel. Saw one within the last 5-6 years on a siding in Manhattan, KS.
As to the wheels - their sojourn on a regular siding would usually be short. They would be moved as soon as possible to a wheel rack - four lengths of rail, arranged so the wheels could be staggered to take up less space. A crane or forklift would be used.
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Gary M. Collins gmcrailgNOSPAM@gmail.com
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Railroads often had flat cars (usually older) converted just for wheel service. They would weld/bolt 4 rails to the deck of the car (rail 1 in gauge to rail 3, rail 2 in guage to rail 4) and then load the wheels on the cars with the wheels overlapping. First wheels on the odd rails, second wheels on the even rails, 3rd wheels on the odd rails, etc. Some when to the trouble of putting metal angle on the decks in place of rail and then cutting out arcs from the vertical flange of the angle to hold the wheels in place.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Thanks for all the replies! Dave, I didn't quite know how to model this scene outside the car shop since I've never seen a prototype in person but I'm trying to learn... :) There is a business near me that 'reconditions' wheels, I haven't been in the place but I see truckloads of wheels leaving there now and then so I was assuming that is the way they're delivered to wherever they're going. If I understand you right though the wheels, in the above picture, should still be in the trucks? Or at least have the journals in place?
Thanks for the help!
dehusmanRailroads often had flat cars (usually older) converted just for wheel service. They would weld/bolt 4 rails to the deck of the car (rail 1 in gauge to rail 3, rail 2 in guage to rail 4) and then load the wheels on the cars with the wheels overlapping. First wheels on the odd rails, second wheels on the even rails, 3rd wheels on the odd rails, etc. Some when to the trouble of putting metal angle on the decks in place of rail and then cutting out arcs from the vertical flange of the angle to hold the wheels in place. Its too bad they have that whole line of wheels they took out of hotbox failures on the track in your picture. They must be wheels that the journals burned off, because when a journal burns off all that's left is a cone of metal. 8-)
I'm just being a pill. Real journals are basically a round steel shaft siticking out from the wheel.
http://www.starmans.net/content/image/NDT%20equipment%202008_10_html_1770393e.jpg
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tpub.com/content/armytransportation/TR06756/TR067560056im.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.tpub.com/content/armytransportation/TR06756/TR067560056.htm&usg=__7WXtp7zUvOFY5EGkGYV0iM2Hcvs=&h=1188&w=918&sz=98&hl=en&start=33&tbnid=BTXyFVt8ypBnzM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfriction%2Bbearing%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18
Modern wheels are shipped with the roller bearings on them:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2100/2156887860_5da32e7ca8.jpg?v=0
Here's a burnt off journal, notice the pointy end:
http://www.lewiscountyherald.com/TrainB0105.jpg
Wheels were usually carried on a flat car and they still are differnt times now . They would be unloaded with a fork truck or a small crane . The wheels have to be stored on rails but not on a track that is active where a car could roll into them and possibly damage the wheels or axels .
Thanks for the links, Dave. I really was a little surprised that the photo with the burned off journal showed the pointy end! I'd not seen that before. Do you think that back in the 40's/50's they were shipped with the journals already on, like the modern ones?
dehusmanI'm just being a pill. Real journals are basically a round steel shaft siticking out from the wheel. http://www.starmans.net/content/image/NDT%20equipment%202008_10_html_1770393e.jpg http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tpub.com/content/armytransportation/TR06756/TR067560056im.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.tpub.com/content/armytransportation/TR06756/TR067560056.htm&usg=__7WXtp7zUvOFY5EGkGYV0iM2Hcvs=&h=1188&w=918&sz=98&hl=en&start=33&tbnid=BTXyFVt8ypBnzM:&tbnh=150&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfriction%2Bbearing%26gbv%3D2%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D18 Modern wheels are shipped with the roller bearings on them: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2100/2156887860_5da32e7ca8.jpg?v=0 Here's a burnt off journal, notice the pointy end: http://www.lewiscountyherald.com/TrainB0105.jpg
Do you think that back in the 40's/50's they were shipped with the journals already on,
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More then likely since the truck frame sits on the end of the axle.
reconditioned friction bearing wheel sets used babbit lined brasses and wedges in the journal box for a bearing surface. the axle ends were ususally coated with some sort of cosmoline or other protective coating to prevent rusting.
we used to unload wheels from a special wheel carring flat car with a forklift truck. we had a fabricated boom that slipped over the forks and hung from the cross members on the mast. it had a cable sling with a special hook on the ends that slipped over the outside of each wheel and worked like a pair of ice tongs.
it was best done with a three man operation. one guy drove the lift truck.one man up on the car to hook up to the wheel sets and one man on the ground to position them and unhook them when the operator lowered them to the ground.
the car held about 3 dozen sets and was reloaded with old wheelsets to go back to the reclamation plant or wheel shop, that is why you seldom see an empty wheel car.
i think an axle with 2 wheels on it weighed about 3000 lbs. so we had an counterweight fabricated from scrap rail hung on the back of the lift truck. otherwise you could stand it on it's nose when you hung that much weight out front well beyond the ends of the forks.
wheel storage tracks were made with 4 rails so you could stagger the wheelsets on alternate rails, each pair of flanges resting against the axle of the next.
before roller bearings were standard, we got at least a carload a week in for the car dept. in E St Louis.
grizlump
nice work. i really like the gondola car. not to be too critical but i doubt if such substantial bumpers would be used at the end of wheel storage tracks. a couple of wheel stops or even old crossties would do the job nicely. also the tracks would probably have 4 rails instead of 2 so the wheels could be staggered and take up about half the space.
No, I don't think they would because, and this is a guess, wouldn't the journals be dependent on what type trucks the wheels were going to be used on?
grizlump, thanks for the information, I've always wondered how it was done.
grizlump9 reconditioned friction bearing wheel sets used babbit lined brasses and wedges in the journal box for a bearing surface. the axle ends were ususally coated with some sort of cosmoline or other protective coating to prevent rusting. we used to unload wheels from a special wheel carring flat car with a forklift truck. we had a fabricated boom that slipped over the forks and hung from the cross members on the mast. it had a cable sling with a special hook on the ends that slipped over the outside of each wheel and worked like a pair of ice tongs. it was best done with a three man operation. one guy drove the lift truck.one man up on the car to hook up to the wheel sets and one man on the ground to position them and unhook them when the operator lowered them to the ground. the car held about 3 dozen sets and was reloaded with old wheelsets to go back to the reclamation plant or wheel shop, that is why you seldom see an empty wheel car. i think an axle with 2 wheels on it weighed about 3000 lbs. so we had an counterweight fabricated from scrap rail hung on the back of the lift truck. otherwise you could stand it on it's nose when you hung that much weight out front well beyond the ends of the forks. wheel storage tracks were made with 4 rails so you could stagger the wheelsets on alternate rails, each pair of flanges resting against the axle of the next. before roller bearings were standard, we got at least a carload a week in for the car dept. in E St Louis. grizlump
Yep, you're right. This area wasn't meant to be for wheel sets, thus the heavy duty bumper. But, in this thread I've learned about the the 4 rails and staggered storage technique. I guess I could had a couple of rails about a third as long as this track (to the back end), but that probably wouldn't be very prototypical either. And I don't want to go ripping out one of my radial TT tracks either so I'll probably drop the idea of modeling this and go with a gon load. I believe Tichy (sp?) makes the ones that look like the prototype. That is a neat looking gon isn't it.
Thanks for your help!
grizlump9nice work. i really like the gondola car. not to be too critical but i doubt if such substantial bumpers would be used at the end of wheel storage tracks. a couple of wheel stops or even old crossties would do the job nicely. also the tracks would probably have 4 rails instead of 2 so the wheels could be staggered and take up about half the space.grizlump
Tichy sells non working axles with the correct looking ends.
http://www.tichytraingroup.com/index.php?page=view_product.php&id=273&category=Details
They sell this too.
http://www.tichytraingroup.com/index.php?page=view_product.php&id=275&category=Freight+Car+Kits
friction bearing journals came in several standard sizes depending upon the load capacity of the axle. they were identified by journal length and axle diameter. best i remember, 6 1/2 X 12 was the largest. it was the size used on many diesel locomotives that were not equipped with roller bearings.
in the old days, railroad car departments spent a huge amount of time inspecting, oiling and repacking journals. (when they were not busy inspecting and repairing running boards)
jacon12 Do you think that back in the 40's/50's they were shipped with the journals already on, like the modern ones?
Do you think that back in the 40's/50's they were shipped with the journals already on, like the modern ones?
Not at all. On a plain journal car (not a roller bearing) the journal box is part of the truck side frame. The side frame rests on a brass bearing that sits on the top of the axle end. That is a separate piece and not shipped with the axle. Underneath the axle, in the bottom of the journal box, was a was of cotton waste or a pad that wicked oil up to the axle.
Roller bearings have a sealed race that encloses the axle end, that is factory applied. An adapter sits on top of the race and fits into the truck side frame.
A 1950's plain bearing wheel set (or actually any era plain bearing wheels) would not have the journal box on it, just the plain end. It would probably be coated in grease to keep it from rusting.
Car knockers would carry a can of journal oil with a long spout, a steel tool with a hook on it and a brass rod with on end pointed and 90 degree bend in it. They would use the steel tool to open the journal lid, then drag the brass rod along the journal surface (the end of the axle). If the journal was worn, scored or pitted the carmen could feel it with the brass rod. If the journal was OK, they'd oil it, if it wasn't they'd bad order the car.
Dave H.