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Did you know it has no fasteners at all - a railroad truck/bogie


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#1 mariner

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Posted 23 September 2018 - 10:46

This has nothing to do with cars at all but on reading about railroad trucks in a train magazine I was amazed to find they have absolutely no fasteners at all in them.

 

Anybody who has seen on of those 100 car US trains will have watched dozens of the two axle trucks ( bogies) go by. each one carries up to 70 tons of load but they have no fasteners at al in the despite having both springs and friction  dampers. As explained in the patent detail l below they have just five parts,some friction blocks  and springs. One cross bolster with pin and pads, two side frames and two wheelsets with the bearings forced on. You buy the bits separately and assemble the whole thing with a fork lift truck and some crowbars. First hold up the bolster , then loosely slip the side frames on. Then slip the necessary coil springs in while it is under no load, using a crowbar to pop them in. Then use a forklift to lift and drop the assembly onto the two wheel sets.

 

All that weight plus a suspension/damper system but no fasteners!

 

https://patents.goog...atent/US6874426


Edited by mariner, 23 September 2018 - 11:17.


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#2 MatsNorway

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Posted 27 September 2018 - 05:39

Gravity is the fastener ;)

 

Can you really assemble that a boggie with just the crowbar and lifting equipment? Where did you get that from? searched it for the word crowbar. I guess i knew the US wheels was lose by pictures from accidents.

 

That stuff gets complicated and regulated heavily quickly once allowed speed goes up.

 

For those who did not know. I did about 7 years of engineering within train maintenance. Made mostly tools, parts (mechanical and other, like interior), storage and logistics solutions. Kinda cool to see my stuff go by in traffic on the roads and on the rails all over the country.


Edited by MatsNorway, 13 October 2018 - 10:16.


#3 mariner

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Posted 01 October 2018 - 13:38

Mats, indeed gravity does the trick. As you say as a railway engineer ,once speed goes up bogies get complex. Reaction links , Panhard rods and multiple dampers etc. 

 

There is an article in the US Trains magazine ( print only) explaining how you assemble a us freight truck. Surprisingly you can't actually buy a complete truck. You buy the wheelsets, frames, bearings and springs separately and assemble yourself in your yard. Basically its shoving the bearings onto the axles, then dropping the side frames onto the bearing boxes. Then you wriggle the cross bolster into place through the spring pack spaces. Then jack the bolster up as high as it can go and slide the spring sets in . As it drops onto the springs the bolster engages with the guide pads. 

 

Totally crude but that's how it is done apparently 


Edited by mariner, 01 October 2018 - 13:41.


#4 desmo

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Posted 05 October 2018 - 03:35

Simple, not crude. Mature, successful designs like this are often elegant in their own ways.