Switch machine problem solved soon?/ cast iron wheels?

[Anonymous]

Thanks to those for the advice on the switch machines. I'm trying something similar to what Big Boy suggested, so maybe I'll share the news. Quick question.- Did R.R.'s still use cast iron wheels by 1915, or had they started using steel by then? It's difficult to tell from all of these b & w photos I have. I model 1915.

[cacole]

I don't know the exact year, but seem to have read somewhere that steel wheels became mandatory sometime after the end of World War I in 1918, and the beginning of World War II in 1941. As with other changes, there was a transition period of 10 years or so that railroads were allowed to continue using cast iron wheels, but after a certain deadline those pieces of rolling stock could not be used in interchange service; i.e., they could not leave the owning railroad's tracks and run on another line.

The most noticeable physical difference between cast iron and steel wheels was that cast iron wheels were ribbed on the back to help dissipate heat, and steel wheels are smooth.

[Anonymous]

Thanks cacole. I think I can get away with using cast iron wheels. Many railroads took years to comply with new laws. The Pacific Coast Railroad was still using link and pin couplers at least until 1907. As you know, they were banned in 1893.