Does anyone know why on some rail freight cars you can hear a thunking sound coming from the wheels as they pass by. It almost sounds as though there is a flat spot on the wheel. Some are quite loud and I'm thinking if it was actually a flat spot it would do serious damage. Anyone know what that is? Thanks,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
It's not hard. Trains go through yards. There are people working in the yards. They can hear the pounding of the wheels. Yes they do that at slow speed too. The car number is called in.
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Thanks for the answer. If I can push you just a little bit further,, how the heck do they find out about them since it just seems to me you have to be track side with them moving to pick up on it. Gosh, even then, good luck on finding which car it was. Again, thank you.
BINGO! You nailed it. Those are indeed flat spots. If left for long enough the constant pounding will damage the wheel and cause it to fail. Many times a car that has flat spotted wheels is serviced while still on the line. The end of the car is jacked up, the damaged wheelset(s) rolled clear and a new one put in it's place. There are times when the damage is so the car must be dropped on a siding and reported as being in bad order. Again the car is serviced as outlined above.