Ed - I will give you this one

[Mookie]

Haven't heard from you directly for awhile, so will shoot this one to you.

Saw some auto racks - are their wheels smaller than most? I notice some trucks have 3 springs between the wheels - these only had two. And a gondola went by with some really small wheel sets and right behind it, two cars of bigger ones.

I know the auto racks cover part of the trucks, so they may just look smaller, but the 2 springs has me mystified.....

Boy, give me Millie and send my driver off to work and I find all sorts of things to get into! Railroad-wise!

Mookie

[Mookie]

Haven't heard from you directly for awhile, so will shoot this one to you.

Saw some auto racks - are their wheels smaller than most? I notice some trucks have 3 springs between the wheels - these only had two. And a gondola went by with some really small wheel sets and right behind it, two cars of bigger ones.

I know the auto racks cover part of the trucks, so they may just look smaller, but the 2 springs has me mystified.....

Boy, give me Millie and send my driver off to work and I find all sorts of things to get into! Railroad-wise!

Mookie

[CShaveRR]

I could have used Ed last week when our refrigerator went out. We wouldn't have lost nearly as much food if he were here telling it to "stay frosty"!

Let me tackle your truck question: the wheels are in fact smaller--28 inches, as opposed to 33 for a normal "70-ton" wheel [wheels for 100-ton-and-larger cars are 36 inches in diameter; perhaps the 125-ton cars have 38-inch wheels]. This is only done on some of TTX's "low-deck" flats, and is purely for clearance purposes.

Three springs? Two springs? Sis, take a closer look...there are more springs behind those, with some cars having nine or more springs on each side. And that doesn't count the smaller springs inside the larger ones!

Now that I've tweaked you a little, let me explain that some cars that may seem to be missing springs have had that done intentionally, to reduce the maximum possible weight of the car plus load (I'd think they'd be better left in for "insurance" purposes, but then I don't design this stuff). A fully-loaded trilevel may contain 18 autos, definitely weighing less than two tons each. So if the car itself weighs around 50 tons (those racks are heavy!), you might be talking about an 85-ton gross rail load. A "70-ton" car has a gross rail load of 110 tons under normal conditions. That's reduced when springs are removed. I've seen it done to box cars that are intended for carrying nothing but light loads, such as boxes of cereal.

Something to look for on these cars: where it says "LD LMT", the figure (in pounds) is likely to be followed by a star. That means that this number can't be changed by anyone except the home shop for the car (they're afraid that they might not be as observant as Da Mook, assume all of the springs are in there, and show the car as being able to handle a lot more than it really can).

[CShaveRR]

I could have used Ed last week when our refrigerator went out. We wouldn't have lost nearly as much food if he were here telling it to "stay frosty"!

Let me tackle your truck question: the wheels are in fact smaller--28 inches, as opposed to 33 for a normal "70-ton" wheel [wheels for 100-ton-and-larger cars are 36 inches in diameter; perhaps the 125-ton cars have 38-inch wheels]. This is only done on some of TTX's "low-deck" flats, and is purely for clearance purposes.

Three springs? Two springs? Sis, take a closer look...there are more springs behind those, with some cars having nine or more springs on each side. And that doesn't count the smaller springs inside the larger ones!

Now that I've tweaked you a little, let me explain that some cars that may seem to be missing springs have had that done intentionally, to reduce the maximum possible weight of the car plus load (I'd think they'd be better left in for "insurance" purposes, but then I don't design this stuff). A fully-loaded trilevel may contain 18 autos, definitely weighing less than two tons each. So if the car itself weighs around 50 tons (those racks are heavy!), you might be talking about an 85-ton gross rail load. A "70-ton" car has a gross rail load of 110 tons under normal conditions. That's reduced when springs are removed. I've seen it done to box cars that are intended for carrying nothing but light loads, such as boxes of cereal.

Something to look for on these cars: where it says "LD LMT", the figure (in pounds) is likely to be followed by a star. That means that this number can't be changed by anyone except the home shop for the car (they're afraid that they might not be as observant as Da Mook, assume all of the springs are in there, and show the car as being able to handle a lot more than it really can).

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CShaveRR

I could have used Ed last week when our refrigerator went out. We wouldn't have lost nearly as much food if he were here telling it to "stay frosty"!

Bro Carl - isn't that just a bite when the fridge or electricity goes out! We lived in the dark for 10 days during an October Freeze/Blizzard 14 inches of snow. It was awful! The Mook hates to waste food like that! But you can only drink so much milk before it goes bad! Gurgle....

Will go on and read the rest of your missive now...

Mookie

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CShaveRR

I could have used Ed last week when our refrigerator went out. We wouldn't have lost nearly as much food if he were here telling it to "stay frosty"!

Bro Carl - isn't that just a bite when the fridge or electricity goes out! We lived in the dark for 10 days during an October Freeze/Blizzard 14 inches of snow. It was awful! The Mook hates to waste food like that! But you can only drink so much milk before it goes bad! Gurgle....

Will go on and read the rest of your missive now...

Mookie

[Mookie]

Carl - they won't let me any closer! Guess they are scared of La Mook!

I see these going by - depends on if they are coming in or going out - at anywhere from looks to be about 10 mph to about 25-35 when they get the head end out of the yard and really start truckin'. (probably shouldn't say that here) I use binoculars, but at that speed all I really get is dizzy! The little springs between the two outer wheels under that thing that looks like a crescent wrench - here we are with the yellow thingie again. But - I did notice that the auto racks ride lower on the truck than the regular cars. And they had only 2 teeny springs showing - rather than the 3 of most cars.

Isn't this exciting!

Mookie

[Mookie]

Carl - they won't let me any closer! Guess they are scared of La Mook!

I see these going by - depends on if they are coming in or going out - at anywhere from looks to be about 10 mph to about 25-35 when they get the head end out of the yard and really start truckin'. (probably shouldn't say that here) I use binoculars, but at that speed all I really get is dizzy! The little springs between the two outer wheels under that thing that looks like a crescent wrench - here we are with the yellow thingie again. But - I did notice that the auto racks ride lower on the truck than the regular cars. And they had only 2 teeny springs showing - rather than the 3 of most cars.

Isn't this exciting!

Mookie

[Anonymous]

ED thanks for the pics you emailed me.

Also thank you for another fine Picture of the Day.

Mooky did you get any of the ones I emailed you?

alasksman is your in box empty yet?

ironhorseman still getting " x " s?

A second round of the "Guard Car" will come shortly

[Anonymous]

ED thanks for the pics you emailed me.

Also thank you for another fine Picture of the Day.

Mooky did you get any of the ones I emailed you?

alasksman is your in box empty yet?

ironhorseman still getting " x " s?

A second round of the "Guard Car" will come shortly