Brake changes

[Anonymous]

How often are brakes on cars changed out? Are they done as needed or is it a set schedule? I assume coal cars would be the hardest on brakes as opposed to say automoble rack carriers. Thanks.
Larry

[edblysard]

Hi Larry,
When a train arrives at the receiving terminal, the car men or car inspectors go over it before it is switched. Any car with a defect, (worn brake shoes, damaged safety appliance, or other light damage) is tagged with a bad order card, and the switch crew sets it out in a rip track, (repair in place). Heavy damage goes to the car dept. where it is determined if we will repair the car, or send it home. Our carmen inspect both sides of all inbound trains before I can switch them. Shoes are replaced as needed, not on any schedule. Although I haven't done the work, I have watched our carmen do so, its a easy fix, takes about one minute per wheel.
Stay Frosty
Ed

[Anonymous]

Ed,
I didn't know it was such an easy fix. Sounds like the carmen could knock out a siding of cars in no time. Thanks.
Larry

[Anonymous]

I used to work in a car shop. When we used to get a unit coal train in for service, I would run and hide. Shoeing a whole unit train sucks. We were expected to do one wheel in 30 seconds. Yeah right! What really made it exciting was when you would crawl up to a wheel and notice that you were sharing space with Jake the snake. Fun Fun Fun. O.K. I'm done whining now.

[wabash1]

coal hoppers around here dont get the brakes used as much as a auto rack dose. If we was guessing as to what trains use the brakes more i say it be covered hoppers. followed by tank cars. just guessing.

[edblysard]

Trust me, the more cars they have to re shoe, the longer per car it takes. Even though it looks easy, and doing one or two is quick, they have to kneel down, and pry a pin/retaining spring out, and bust a knuckel or two, ( on their hand, not the car). After five or six cars, they look pretty beat.
Even though switchmen and engineers give them a hard time, carknockers or carmen earn every buck they get.
Oh, and around here, its the tanks, then the covered hoppers that get shoes the most, we are heavy on petrochemical and plastic industries.
Stay Frosty,
Ed

[CShaveRR]

I suspect that if everything that was found with worn shoes were sent to our Rip facility, it would be more swamped than it is. I don't think they even take note of the brake shoes until the trains are being readied for departure. New brake shoes are in evidence along the departure tracks, where, I assume, they are installed as needed.

[Soo2610]

Ed, Does the railroad bill the owner of the car for the new brake shoes? I Would tend to think that they don't do this as a common courtesy and safety enhancement.

[edblysard]

No, they bill the railroad who sent the car to us. If we send it on, and the receiving road found bad shoes, we would get billed. It works this way for any bad order, regardless of what type of damage, lots or little. So it benifits your road to catch bad orders, because if you dont, you get billed later, if you do, the other guys who sent it to you pay for it. If they didnt, you would have a few short line who would never repair a car or replace a shoe. We dont send a bill for each car, the paper work would kill you, it tallied up quarterly, and sent. Thats whats called the AAR billing, its managed by the AAR. We send them a report of what we fixed, and who sent it to us, they pay us for it and bill the sending road for the labor, and the owner for the shoes. If the damage is great, say a ripped off end platform, then the railroad who damaged the car pays the whole cost, after all, the owner didnt damage it. But shoes and bearings are ultimatly the owners problem, they are expected to wear out, and are a part of the cost of owning a railcar.
Stay Frosty,
Ed

[Soo2610]

Kind of thought so. Paperwork still sounds like a real nightmare. Thanks for the info.
len