Steering Pivot
Posted September 4, 2010
By admin
Is the pivot point of freight car wheels behind the point of wheel to rail contact?
Steam locomotive pilot trucks are made to pivot behind the point of wheel to rail contact resistance. This causes the pilot truck to steer into the curve and helps pull the driving wheels toward the curve. This innovation reduced the large number of derailments experienced in the 1800's. Are freight car wheel truck asemblies pivoted in a similar manner to achieve a similar result?
No.
On freight cars with conventional two axle trucks, the pivot point is in the center of the truck bolster bar, or cross member, the best place to evenly distribute the load on the truck.
As you pointed out, the purpose of the pony trucks on a steam engine is a bit different in its purpose. Not only does it carry weight, it does in fact help the engine to better negotiate a curve.
Improvements in engineering and technology relative to the track structure provide for rolling stock and locomotives to better negotiate curvature. Before entering a curve's radius, the track curves in what is known as a "spiral". This bit of engineering does the task of setting up equipment for a curve, just as did the pony trucks of old.
The car wheels themselves have had design advances, primarily through tapering, which allows for easier travel through the track curvature.
Some intermodal equipment has only single axle trucks and the centerpin is offset, similar to the pony trucks of the steam engines.
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