Anyone know if rail greasers are still used on curves to reduce friction? Or was it an experiment?
there is one about a mile from my house, still pumping away.
yes and we crews still curse them anytime we have to stop going down hill with one in front of us…going up hill in the rain and hit one…
csx engineer
I’ve always thought that the greasers were the MoW’s,way,of getting sometype of revenge on the T&E crews.
And why are they always on a hill right where you need the traction the most [%-)] .
And I think the signals that’s places in curves,or hard to see places, was sometype of conspiracy from the signal maintainers…[8] [?]
Pics are on fairly straight and level track, south of Hannibal. Is this a greaser? Grease looks worse than pic shows.
Greaser are still used.
In territory with grades greasers are a double edged sword. While their use reduces the friction of the train being pulled over the trackage, it also reduces the traction of the locomotive for a period of time, generally that period of time when the train needs the traction from the engines the most.
The railroads have gone grease crazy. In addition to more and more lineside greasers near the curves we also find portable greasers installed in the hy-rail trucks the asst roadmasters ride in to patrol the tracks. These greasers have lines to apply grease to the inside of the rail when the flanges contact the rail as well as a pair of lines to apply grease to the tops of the rail where the locomotives gain traction for the pulls up the hills. Now consider the flange lubricators on the locomotives and the new brake shoes on the locos which have graphite or other lube products inserted into the friction components of the brake shoe to apply lubrication to the flange of the wheels.
Yes, it is just grease, grease, grease everywhere except on the power switches where more is needed. Now add the increasing horsepower per axle and increased dynamic braking capacities of the newer units and sometimes it is like ice skating along the railroad when you are trying to take a heavy train with about 0.6 hp/ton up a long curving grade.
Here are the rail greasers at Gallitzin, PA, just west of the tunnels and at the high point of the Allegheny Ridge on the NS – former Pennsy. There are a lot of curves between this point and Altoona – the Horseshoe Curve among them.
I was told by an NS employee that they use soybean oil or something along biodegradable lines.
I had been wondering about all the excess grease, with the river just being a few yards away. Maybe Mudchicken can shed some light on this.
I also wonder about the pool of grease laying around. What a mess! What a waste! And I’ll bet that a lot of grease is getting on places that don’t need it.
On another thread, I posted a picture of the flange greaser that is used on San Jose’s light rail system. There is an inner rail on each side, and while the area between the two rails is greasy, that is the extent of it. No pools of grease making a mess of the ballast.
I would think that you get what you pay for. Being a metropolitan area, the concept of having a pool of grease just waiting for some kid to play around it was probably unappealing. So I suspect that a more expensive delivery system is being used than what a railroad out in the boondocks would need to use.
Here in Brazil some railroads use grease boxes, like EFVM, others use men with a brush to lubrificate the curves. Mere in my town FCA have a employee only to do this job.
pedro
Flange lubricators are not very efficient, leaving roughly a third of the lubricant on the ground. NS’ experiments with biodegradable lubricants will bear watching, since the results so far have been mixed. IF they work as well as petroleum or synthetic lubricants, fine, but the proverbial jury is still out on this. The cost of most biodegradable lubricants are quite high relative to other types of lubricating oil or grease. Most roads likely will take the additional wheel wear and replace rail where necessary as it might prove cheaper than the alternatives. One alternative that will be very popular, will be paying the fines states impose upon polluters. The fines are cheaper than the alternatives currently available for flange lubrication. My employer pays fines for lots of “offenses” rather than spring for difficult to justify (expensive) “green alternatives”. Governments had better wake up and stop taxing the bio lubrication and bio fuel industry now! But the governments are greedy and private industry is cheap. Raise the fines and watch them leave or raise freight rates. Some choices aren’t they?
The former BC Rail line (now CN) did have a number of greasers. Though I haven’t checked, I would imagine they’re still in use. If you think a rail lube raises hell with a diesel, try running a large drivered steam loco over one! Talk about spin city. When BC Rail had its steam program, the track patrols had to turn off the greasers ahead of each train.
Greasers are revenge from MoW? Yeah, right. I don’t see you guys out mucking in that stuff. Try knocking off anchors and pulling spikes in that stuff and then come back and tell me how we’re using it to get revenge on you guys.
Not to mention the safety issue: the lubricants are slippery and it behooves one to be careful. However, when the superintendent is on your [censored] then safety falls, just as you will and you wish your boss would, too!
I want to apologize for attitude in my earlier post. The whole grease thing struck a nerve because we just relayed an S curve in a yard and at least half that thing was greased. We were literally on our hands and knees digging through grease with spikes to get to the anchors. Not fun. Again, I sincerely aopolgize. I would take it back if I could, but I couldn’t delete the post because someone quoted it.
Hey PF. I would be in worse mood than you are.
Just thought I’d add in on this. Greasers are also still used in Ontario, on Toronto’s Subway System especially on some of there tighter turns. However I have also noticed that in some area’s automatic greasers are no longer used, and a more environmentally friendly means of quieting the cars as they go through tight turns is being employed. In one area that I have personally seen, a constant spray of water is sprayed on the rail which acts in a similar maner as the grease would to help deaden the ear pearcing sounds. Additionally the water is controlled by a sensor unit that turns the water on and off based on weather and track conditions. Thus saving the amount of water used.
I don’t know how widely used it is on the TTC, however I have seen it used in atleast one location on both the street car system and the subway system in Toronto. I realize that this is not a practicable solution in all locations, but it is a unique one, I thought I would pass along.
PigFarmer1,no harm no foul.Just a little humor on my part [:P].
It’s just funny how the greasers are in the most ,how to say,well just the worst place to put them sometimes.And why soo many?Is there an FRA recommendation?
I couldn’t imagine getting around those greasers when I can see that the grease looks like it gets slung 20+ feet everywhere [sigh].
Something I’ve noticed on some of the greasers here on the Pocahontas Division is solar panels.The only thing I can guess is to keep the grease warm so it won’t get too thick .?[:)]
Yes, on CTA and Metra lines around Chicago.
From the responses you see grease on rails isn’t a very satisfactory solution.
Biodegradeable lubricants and water offer “greener” solutions; but they still affect traction and braking.
More universal use of radial trucks would help for all but the sharpest curves. As with everything else, there is a cost trade-off.
Conversely no one mentioned the cost of replacing worn rails and wheels.
HarveyK400