Trains.com

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Gray trucks on prototype cars?

9568 views
41 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    May 2004
  • 7,500 posts
Posted by 7j43k on Saturday, December 30, 2017 10:43 PM

ATLANTIC CENTRAL
 PS - remember this one:

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/acy/acy521w.jpg

 

 

Yup.  But those two hole below the funny looking spring package disqualify them.  

 

What else ya got, dude?

 

 

Ed

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Maryland
  • 12,897 posts
Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Saturday, December 30, 2017 8:53 PM

7j43k

 

 
ATLANTIC CENTRAL

Yes, they are the old Lindberg trucks.

Yes the version in question is an early inclosed Timken roller bearing,

Yes, many such trucks on covered hoppers were gray like the hopper.....

 

 

 

 

One would think that.  But I couldn't find any in the rather extensive article on early ACF covered hoppers in "Railway Prototype Cyclopedia".  That certainly doesn't cover the Pullman PS-2's though.  

 

That said, the only people who would notice and care about early Timken trucks used under a hopper would likely be impressed by your audacity of "insisting" that it was correct.  'Cause it looks like it sorta almost slight might could be.

 

Why not!

 

 

Ed

 

Interestingly, the use of these trucks on ANY freight equipment was rather limited. Only a few railroads saw the value, and a few tried them and never expanded their use.

There have been several discussions of these trucks on this forum over the years, and I don't have all the research at my finger tips.

But they did exist, and were used on some freight equipment in the period mentioned.

The more modern "open cap" roller bearing trucks most are familiar with did not appear until 1954 and one of the first cars they appeared on were the new 75' piggyback flats built for the PRR and Wabash.

If I have time later, I'll dig out some photos of pre '54 freight cars with inclosed roller bearing trucks.

Sheldon

PS - remember this one:

http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/acy/acy521w.jpg

    

  • Member since
    May 2004
  • 7,500 posts
Posted by 7j43k on Saturday, December 30, 2017 8:38 PM

ATLANTIC CENTRAL

Yes, they are the old Lindberg trucks.

Yes the version in question is an early inclosed Timken roller bearing,

Yes, many such trucks on covered hoppers were gray like the hopper.....

 

 

One would think that.  But I couldn't find any in the rather extensive article on early ACF covered hoppers in "Railway Prototype Cyclopedia".  That certainly doesn't cover the Pullman PS-2's though.  

 

That said, the only people who would notice and care about early Timken trucks used under a hopper would likely be impressed by your audacity of "insisting" that it was correct.  'Cause it looks like it sorta almost slight might could be.

 

Why not!

 

 

Ed

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Maryland
  • 12,897 posts
Posted by ATLANTIC CENTRAL on Saturday, December 30, 2017 6:51 PM

Yes, they are the old Lindberg trucks.

Yes the version in question is an early inclosed Timken roller bearing, same design bearing as many tender trucks and similar to most early streamlined passenger roller bearings, and the latter conversion bearings for heavyweight passenger trucks.

Yes, most commonly used in the late 40's/early 50's on early covered hoppers, express box cars and reefers that ran in passenger trains, some early piggyback cars, etc.

Covered hoppers were a prime target because of the nasty loading/unloading enviroment that would contaminate grease in conventional journals.

Yes, many such trucks on covered hoppers were gray like the hopper.....

Yes, model sprung truck springs do not have the visual mass of real truck springs. I still prefere them for their equalized operation. Most of my 1000 car freight car fleet rides on one brand or another of sprung trucks, incuding some Lindberg/EB roller bearings.

Again for any new people, my prefered freight car truck - Kadee sprung metal trucks refitted with Intermountain wheel sets........exhaustive testing has shown them to be the most free rolling and best tracking - sprung or unsprung.

But the EB/Linderberg truck is not bad either, and the Kadee brake shoes will clip right on them.

The Kadee plastic brake shoe detail is another reason I prefer the Kadee rucks.

Sheldon

    

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • From: AU
  • 713 posts
Posted by xdford on Saturday, December 30, 2017 12:21 AM

I cannot vouch for North American Gray/Grey trucks but the South Australian Railways painted their general vehicles Grey with the bogies to match e.g.

  

The first ones of these were actually built by ACF in the 1920's under the Webb Rehabilitation of the SAR and modellers in the 60's and 70's liked the Lindbergh trucks - saved all that repainting!

Cheers from Australia

Trevor

  • Member since
    August 2013
  • 3,006 posts
Posted by ACY Tom on Friday, December 29, 2017 9:20 PM

That particular Roller Bearing truck seems to be a bit unusual, but the idea of gray trucks, especially on covered hoppers, was definitely not unusual. 

I recall seeing a paint chart that specified black trucks on new PRR boxcars in the early 1950's, but I know for certain that red trucks were very common on freight cars of B&O, PRR, and others at that time. This has led me to conclude that shops tended to use red (same as the carbody) on repaints of the trucks of older cars. 

I remember the Lindberg trucks fondly. At the time, there was nothing on the market that rolled more freely. 

Tom

  • Member since
    May 2004
  • 7,500 posts
Posted by 7j43k on Friday, December 29, 2017 3:07 PM

I looked at a lot of ACF 1958 covered hopper pictures.  I didn't find any that used trucks like this in grey.  I did find some ACL cars that appeared to use the truck in BCR.

 

Ed

  • Member since
    November 2016
  • 476 posts
Posted by j. c. on Friday, December 29, 2017 1:03 PM

the only road  that i can think of off the top of my head was missouri pacific gray covered hoppers . you might check out fallen flags for roads that used gray paint to see if any others used them.

  • Member since
    March 2002
  • From: Milwaukee WI (Fox Point)
  • 11,439 posts
Posted by dknelson on Friday, December 29, 2017 11:56 AM

I wonder if this EB Products is a successor or surviving fragment of the old E&B Valley firm which made a variety of model kits, and yes, trucks. 

I have seen freight car trucks in both red (mostly on MOW cars) and black (which tends to weather to a brownish dark shade) on the prototype.  Not gray but cannot rule it out.  

Dave Nelson

  • Member since
    May 2004
  • 7,500 posts
Posted by 7j43k on Friday, December 29, 2017 11:26 AM

Those trucks to me look like "early roller bearing" freight.

If I felt compelled to find a car that used trucks like that, IN GREY, I'd start with early covered hoppers.  Being as covered hoppers tend to be grey.  Of course, the trucks could also be black.

GN, for example, had roller bearings on some of their earliest.  Unfortunately for this particular quest, the trucks were not grey, and they looked just like plain bearing trucks.

The trucks might pass for dirty aluminum painted trucks.  Then you might scan early "yellow painted" UP freight cars.  Stock cars come to mind.

 

After that, I got nuthin'.  And what I DO have ain't much.

 

 

Ed

 

 

  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Reading, PA
  • 30,002 posts
Posted by rrinker on Friday, December 29, 2017 10:37 AM

 Indeed, if you look in the older magazines from the 60's and into the 70's, there was fairly consistent praise for the rolling qualities of Lindberg's trucks. Problem with real sprung trucks (if they actually work) is that the springs are MUCH too fine to replicate the prototype - physics doesn't scale. A scale size spring that actually looked like the real thing - you probably couln't compress by leaning on the model with all your weight.

 Grey plastic doesn't bother me - you can always paint it. I paint all of my trucks, even if they are cast in black plastic, to kill the shine and make them look at least a little bit used. Grey would be not too common - perhaps on cement cars, where despite the railroad's normal colors for box cars, the whole car is painted grey so the spilled cement doesn't look as bad.

                              --Randy

 


Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's

 

Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.

  • Member since
    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Friday, December 29, 2017 9:59 AM

Those trucks look like, and a quick search showed them to actually be, the trucks offered at one time by Lindberg.  In their day, these were as good as any available, but there are, in my opinion, better looking ones available nowadays.

Wayne

  • Member since
    March 2013
  • 2 posts
Gray trucks on prototype cars?
Posted by Cunningtim on Thursday, December 28, 2017 7:36 PM

EB Products makes a very nice HO National Timken truck (T-327G) but it is molded in gray plastic.  My question is what prototypical cars would use such a gray truck?  (They also make trucks in Tuscan red, which I also don’t know where you would find in the real world-PRR?)

Tags: Trucks

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Users Online

There are no community member online

Search the Community

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Model Railroader Newsletter See all
Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter and get model railroad news in your inbox!