i'm new with many questions

[Medina1128]

Well, at least one of you models a good fallen flag.  Nice to have you here.

Fallen flags rule! I'm modeling the old Missouri Pacific with a short line service from the Missouri-Northern Arkansas..

[tomikawaTT]

Hi, Lauren, and .

I like your tag line.  Reminds me of what Admiral Naismith (aka Miles Vorkosigan) told Taura, the bioengineered supersoldier - "Don't waste time trying to be normal.  Be GREAT!"  (Lois McMasters Bujold, Labyrinth.)

There are no stupid questions.  Unfortunately, the same cannot always be said for answers.  On this forum, the percentage of stupid answers is remarkably low.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

[gear-jammer]

Lauren,  Here is a picture with a 2-truck Shay and a 3-truck Shay. 

Sue

[pcarrell]

A Shay is a geared steam locomotive that is able to operate on tight curves, run over poorly maintained track, and has quite a bit of pulling power for it's size.  It derives it's pulling power from the gearing so that the pistons can turn at a higher rate and therefor operate more in their peak power range.  This makes it so that the locomotive is really kinda slow, but it'll pull hard.

A Shay is not the only geared type loco, but it's one of the more popular ones.

To see more on this and other geared loco's, check this out: http://www.gearedsteam.com/ .

[Anonymous]

Can't anyone help me with that question?

[Anonymous]

I'm back! i have been away from the forum for like a week cause of school work and other hobbys (dogs, other forums, blah blah blah). But now i've got another question...

What's a shay? i know they are steam engines, but that's basically all i know about it.

Thanks to everyone who has helped me!

~Lauren

[twcenterprises]

I'm back, with more info.

For steam loco wheel arrangements, do a search for "Whyte Locomotive Classification".  Mr. Whyte was the one who came up with the system we use today.

Diesels, well, that's been covered fairly well.  The FL9's did ride on B-A1A trucks

Hotboxes, so far covered fairly well, I'll just add, the oil level was often checked at every major junction by "carknockers", if you've ever seen the very long spouted oil cans formerly used on RR's, that's what these men used to top off the journal boxes.  Sometimes, a journal would (for one reason or another) run dry, causing a hotbox.  Could be a bad seal behind the bearing, hairline crack in the box, or crew somehow missed checking that box at the last yard.

Modern roller bearings are sealed, and lubed for the life of the bearing.  The bearings are checked every time the wheels come off for machining.  You would need a VERY big press to remove the bearings and wheels, though you could remove the wheelset fairly easily trackside with a suitable way of lifting the car off the trucks.  I've seen crews jack up a car, roll the truck out, then use a small truck mounted crane to swap the wheelsets.  Generally, the bearings do not need replaced before the wheels need machined, but if for some reason they do, the whole wheelset is swapped out and sent back with all the others for refurbishment.

And, to answer before you ask, wheels DO wear out, just like the tires on your car, but by RR standards, the flanges will get too deep/tall.  The wheels can be machined, restoring them to their proper contours (they cut the most off the flanges, and the outer edge of the wheel, since that's where the least wear occurs).  Eventually, after a few turnings, the wheel reaches it's wear marks, meaning they can't be turned any more.  They are then pressed off the axle, new ones pressed on, and the old ones scrapped.

Driving wheels on steamers had "tires", basically a round strip around the edge of the wheel, the center part of the driver (generally) didn't leave the axle.  The tire could be machined, and to be replaced, crews would use a "ring of fire" to heat the tire to nearly red-hot, causing it to expand just enough to slip off the center.  The new one went on the same way.  Spinning the drivers on a steamer would cause the tires to get hot, (lots of friction), too much could cause the tires to come off.

Brad

[cordon]

<>It's great to see young folks getting into the hobbies of model railroading and railfanning.  I've been doing it for 55 years, although I was inactive for a long time.  I also think it's great to have a teen thread going, and I encourage you to keep that up. I didn't post there because it is a teen thread. 

All the info here is great, and reading it reminds me of how much there is to the hobbies and how much I still don't know.  Also, I knew things in 1950 that I've forgotten and am re-learning.  Some of those, other than the obvious one, steam, have gone away.  For example, kerosene lanterns with red and green lenses on top of track switch control stands, control towers, and mechanical levers and pipes to control switches and signals from the control towers.

I can offer a couple of additions to what I've read here.

The buffers in the buffer and link European coupler system have springs in them to keep a constant force trying to push the cars apart so the link will always be tight.  We saw railroad workers connecting these things when we lived in Belgium and Holland.  If you go back and look at the pictures in this thread, you will see that the link has a large screw with a lever on it.  When coupling cars, the worker sets the link over the hook on the other car and then rotates the lever around several times to make the screw tighten the link.  One end of the screw has a right-hand thread, and the other end has a left-hand thread.  Turning the screw in the correct direction pulls the two ends of the link closer together.  The ones we saw were always well greased, so it was a very dirty job.  It seems rather dangerous work and not a very strong connection.  I'm not sure why the European railroads haven't replaced them with something stronger and more automatic, like American-style couplers.

The other comment is on the old journal (non-roller) bearings.  The lubricant in the box was a thick oil, not grease.  There were shredded rags in the box to act as a wick to make sure the oil got onto the axle.  Railroad workers had to replenish the oil every so often.  They marked the date on the box when they did this, so they would know when a bearing needed more oil.  I never saw a "hotbox" in those days, but I'm sure they happened.  When Timken first started selling roller bearings for railroad cars, they had an ad in magazines showing a man pulling a railroad car.  They claimed it was easy with their roller bearings.  Modern bearings are sealed to keep out dirt and water, so there is no box.  What I don't know yet is how long they last and how workers know when to replace them.

Welcome aboard, and keep learning.

<>

 

[NSlover92]

Well they answered that pretty good I had no idea how deisel ones worked but I knew about steam, proof you learn something new everyday. Mike

[trainfan1221]

You'll be okay, Lauren.  Many women are in this hobby including a friend of mine who another friend dragged in..I mean got interested in trains. But she enjoys it while acting like she has no idea what we're talking about.

 

[emdgp92]

Jasperofzeal got it :)

Don't forget though...some diesels had odd arrangements. E units (A1A-A1A) also had 6 axles, but the center two on each truck were idlers, hence the "1" in the arrangement. The New Haven/Penn Central/Conrail/Amtrak/MNCR/et al EMD FL9s had a two-axle (B) truck in front, and a three-axle (A1A, I *think* but I could be wrong...if so, it was a C) truck in the rear.

[jasperofzeal]

As NeO6874 said, most diesels ride on 2 or 3 axle trucks, but there have been some that have 2 axles total.  They aren't named the way steam ones are named, instead they have letters assigned to them.  For example, an engine with only two powered axles per truck (if applicable) is an A-A, your typical road switcher would most likely be a B-B (GP-35, GP-38, etc.), and your heavy road switchers would be C-C (SD-45, Dash 9's, etc.), and of course the good ole D-D (DD-40).

[NeO6874]

depends.  what type of locomotive? 

Steam - there's probably close to 40 or so.  The most prevalent depends on what era you're talking about and what railroad, or what division of that railroad.  wheel arrangements range from the smallest steamers (excluding the *really* early stuff) being 0-4-0s to the largest, the 4-8-8-4's and other articulateds.  In the case of the 0-4-0, it had 0 pilot wheels, 4 drive wheels (the ones with the side rods, and everything) and 0 trailing wheels (that would support the firebox).  The 4-8-8-4 on the other hand had 4 pilot wheels (which help in "pulling" the front of the locomotive into the curve), a set of 8 drivers followed by another set of 8 drivers (each set had its own cylenders, valves, etc) connected with a hingepin, and then 4 trailing wheels supporting the firebox.

Diesel - earlier ('50s - '70s) or more modern? switcher or heavy road engine? However, they only come in two distinct versions 4-axle (2 2-axle trucks) and 6-axle (2 3-axle trucks).  THough the most modern equipment might have more axles.  Diesel isn't really my speciality.

 

 

[Anonymous]

Next question! ...

What's the wheel arangement? in general?

~Lauren

[NSlover92]

Wow, your pretty close to 1000 views not to bad for a first post lol.

[Anonymous]

Thanks sue! and i didn't even think about using the search box. i'll start doing that first. thanks again for the support.

~Lauren

[gear-jammer]

Don't worry about it.  Go on and ask your questions.

Lauren,

Girls can ask questions, too.  Seriously, I would start reading.  You can also use the search box.  Often times, your questions have already been asked in a previous thread.

If you are trying to meet other people with the same interests, well, this the place.  You will meet some great people of all ages and experience.

Happy Model Railroading,  

Sue

[NSlover92]

Yeah, honestly there is two different people, the only time its fun to fake it is on a CB. lol  (hey this is my 150th post) Mike

[pcarrell]

Don't worry about it.  Go on and ask your questions.

[Anonymous]

Well i'm sorry if this is bugging/confusing people/ causing problems, but seriously we are two different people.

[dinwitty]

But beside the point have you ever tried to write all that and teach someone through AIM? Mike

No, I use the telephone. Sometimes e-mail.

Well see one of us is normally in trouble, and grounded from the phone. or my mom has a home business, so i can't tie the phone line up. and i don't like emails. and like i said before, if we post it on here, other people can answer too, which sometimes makes it simpler for me, getting a few peoples perspectives.

~Lauren

in my life I have seen pranksters faking playing they were a girl when they were a guy and faking everybody out.

I presume we all want to make sure we gotz 2 different people here and not one person  playing kid and answering him/herself.

Cheers and no probs, we love the hobby no matter what.

 

[Anonymous]

But beside the point have you ever tried to write all that and teach someone through AIM? Mike

No, I use the telephone. Sometimes e-mail.

Well see one of us is normally in trouble, and grounded from the phone. or my mom has a home business, so i can't tie the phone line up. and i don't like emails. and like i said before, if we post it on here, other people can answer too, which sometimes makes it simpler for me, getting a few peoples perspectives.

~Lauren

[Midnight Railroader]

But beside the point have you ever tried to write all that and teach someone through AIM? Mike

No, I use the telephone. Sometimes e-mail.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Jake!

[bighead]

if this is the way those two want to do Q&A then let them. how is gunna hurt you anyway it's not like it's gunna kill you because these two want to do it this way. and trust me it's harder to do it on AIM or AOL what ever you want to call it. 

 and again a warm welcome hope you find this forum helpful. :]

                            -jake

[Anonymous]

i'm sorry, but is it really hurting anyone on here that i post my questions here an he answers them? plus then a couple people answer them, worded a little different, which helps me. Also people sometimes add to what he says. and we don't talk on aol cause you can only write so much before you send it. using this he can put pictures up, and write as much as he wants before he posts.

Well to anyone who it bugs, i'm sorry, but i'm not going to stop posting here cause it helps me when other people posts answers too.

To everyone thats posted reply, thanks a lot guys! you've been really helpful!

~Lauren

[jasperofzeal]

This thread's looking very odd to me.

"Girlfriend" posts question and "boyfriend" answers it. Over and over.

Maybe you two need to get a room.

You beat me to the comment, except for the last part about getting the room.

NSLover92 and IwHSH, if you two are boyfriend and girlfriend, why not just talk on a private messenger service and answer all her questions?  If there is a particular question you can't answer, THEN have her post here and let the rest of the kind folk here take a stab at it.  It does seem kind of odd that she asks a question, and you answer, not once, but repeatedly and then say "I'm not an expert...etc."  It seems you're very knowledgeable and can handle her questions pretty well.  Is this for show or some kind of sick joke?  I'm not saying don't use this service, it's not my place to do so, but it does seem kind of weird......

[Anonymous]

thanks don!

[DigitalGriffin]

ok, i think i get that. but can anyone tell me about the hotbox?

This is an axel bearing that is overheating where it joins the truck.  They would glow red when failing.  Older bearings were packed with tons of greese packed into a "box", hence forth the term "Hot box".

Today's free rolling "roller bearings" rarely malfunction and overheat.  They are also much more efficicient, requiring less lubricant at the bearing.

BTW: Welcome to the club.  I hope you have fun, and don't get overwhelmed.

 

~Don