What are they?
Rotating end caps that you can see turning while the car or locomotive is in motion.
I have one pair of Rivarossi U-25-Cs that have them and a couple Exactrail or maybe they're Tangent cars that have them.
Fun little detail but soon forgotten. Due to the axle pin sticking through the sideframe they are subject to a little more drag plus the end caps can turn up missing.
I seem to recall Kato offered HO trucks with this feature some years back. I used them under my Accurail bi- and tri-level auto racks.
Good Luck, Ed
Animated roller bearing.
gmpullmanI seem to recall Kato offered HO trucks with this feature some years back.
The Kato product was excellent. They were available when I first switched to HO scale, and since I was modeling 1968, they were appropriate for many freight cars.
The trucks came with ten roller bearing caps. They pressed into tiny holes in axle protrusions on the axles.
Then I back-dated to 1954.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190 gmpullman I seem to recall Kato offered HO trucks with this feature some years back. The Kato product was excellent. They were available when I first switched to HO scale, and since I was modeling 1968, they were appropriate for many freight cars. The trucks came with ten roller bearing caps. They pressed into tiny holes in axle protrusions on the axles. Then I back-dated to 1954. -Kevin
gmpullman I seem to recall Kato offered HO trucks with this feature some years back.
Kevin, there were roller bearing equipped cars in 1954 just was not required as in later years.
Rick Jesionowski
Rule 1: This is my railroad.
Rule 2: I make the rules.
Rule 3: Illuminating discussion of prototype history, equipment and operating practices is always welcome, but in the event of visitor-perceived anacronisms, detail descrepancies or operating errors, consult RULE 1!
I may have the chronology wrong but I think Athearn - back in the blue box era - was the first with roller bearing trucks where the bearing caps actually turned. They were all black Delrin and the sideframes had in essence little holes where the flat ends of the axles poked through. So it was special sideframes AND special wheelsets.
I bought a pair because I was curious. Two things: first unless you highlighted the bearing cap with a bit of paint, the turning feature was for all practical purposes invisible, and that was back when my eyesight was pretty good. Second, they did not roll well, certainly not as well as the standard Athearn plastic truck made of Delrin which rolled extremely easily, essentially as well as the old Lindbergs did. While the material was Delrin the amount of friction area was larger than with standard trucks. Maybe if I would have run those trucks alot they would have polished their respective surfaces and rolled better. Or maybe not.
However those pioneering Athearn roller bearing trucks with rotating bearing caps DID serve their intended function. You could show them to a friend and say "hey look at this" and they would say "wow." Over the years a fair amount of model railroading money has been spent with the primary objective of making someone say "wow."
I ended up installing them on an even older Athearn metal kit of the original Timkin roller bearing promotional yellow boxcar that Menzies reissued in the 1970s/early 80s. So the irony is that my Timkin boxcar was probably my worst-rolling car. [I later learned that the roller bearing trucks under that early 1950s prototype boxcar did not look much like the more "modern" Athearn roller bearing truck.]
Dave Nelson
dti406Kevin, there were roller bearing equipped cars in 1954 just was not required as in later years.
I know the NEW YORK CENTRAL used them on the PACEMAKER freight trains.
The analogue for these on my railroad is the fleet of COMET FREIGHT service cars.
Eventually, I intend to install roller bearing trucks on these. I have ten cars painted, but only two of them are decalled and finished so far.
-Photograph by Kevin Parson
From what I have read, roller bearing freight car trucks were not very widely used in 1954, so I am not sure how many other cars should have them.
Many current Athearn Genesis freight cars have the animated roller bearings, as do all Scale Trains, most Tangent, and most Exactrail freight cars (that are roller bearing freight car prototypes). I think even some Rapido cars may have animated roller bearings as well. The animated roller bearings are more common than you might think, but I guess many folks must just not be noticing them and must somehow be ignoring the little bag containing extra roller bearing caps that comes with the freight cars.
Pretty sure that has something to do with the higher prices on some freight cars as well. At least the higher the price, the more likely the freight car is to have animated roller bearings.
John
I have learned real quick if the HO-scale rolling stock has animated roller bearings (ARB), look first before buying to see if the viewed side has the ARB's on the axles ends. When I get home I slowly open the box on a table and slide the car out and look on the other side of the car, if all ARBs are in place, we are good to go.
If not, very carefuly look in the box for loose RB caps. And if you open the box at the Hobby Shop and slide the car out, look for the little plastic bag of extra RB caps that just fell to the floor. If somebody slid that car out before you, you may be missing loose RBs and that little plastic bag.
I would think the Model Railroaders that do not keep the packaging/box the car came in would lable that little plastic bag (make, model, reporting marks, car number) for future reference.
Speaking of roller bearing packages, I like seeing what this fellow contends with on the Cumberland Mine Railroad:
Here's the Part 1 video he refers to:
I thought some folks might like to see what can happen when a bearing goes bad...
Regards, Ed
SeeYou190 dti406 Kevin, there were roller bearing equipped cars in 1954 just was not required as in later years. I know the NEW YORK CENTRAL used them on the PACEMAKER freight trains. The analogue for these on my railroad is the fleet of COMET FREIGHT service cars. Eventually, I intend to install roller bearing trucks on these. I have ten cars painted, but only two of them are decalled and finished so far. -Photograph by Kevin Parson From what I have read, roller bearing freight car trucks were not very widely used in 1954, so I am not sure how many other cars should have them. -Kevin
dti406 Kevin, there were roller bearing equipped cars in 1954 just was not required as in later years.
The roller bearing trucks used in the early 50's were mostly enclosed types, I will try to post a picture tomorrow.
I think the 75' piggyback flat cars built by Beth Steel late in 1953 may have been the first cars with open rolling bearings like modern trucks.
Sheldon
ATLANTIC CENTRALThe roller bearing trucks used in the early 50's were mostly enclosed types, I will try to post a picture tomorrow.
Like these?
I think these were made by Fox.
SeeYou190 ATLANTIC CENTRAL The roller bearing trucks used in the early 50's were mostly enclosed types, I will try to post a picture tomorrow. Like these? -Photograph by Kevin Parson I think these were made by Fox. -Kevin
ATLANTIC CENTRAL The roller bearing trucks used in the early 50's were mostly enclosed types, I will try to post a picture tomorrow.
Yes, that was the first type of rolling bearing freight truck.