Cast Iron Wheelsets were made at least as late as 1973, as witness the photo below. The wheel to the right is steel. The cast iron wheel has data embossed in the casting, the steel wheel has tada stamped into the inside rim with punches.
ROAR
Are you sure it is not forged steel? I have seen a lot of forged automotive engine components that have identifying numbers very prominent on them.
Charlie
Markings on a steel wheel:
Clearly Cast Iron:
ROAR
The one with the ribs is cast iron, the other without ribs is wrought steel and of course the stamped is steel.
AAR rules stated that Cast Iron wheels were banned form new manufacture in 1958 and banned from interchange service in January of 1970. Some interesting information here:
http://www.vbfamily.com/Wheeldoc.htm
Wrought Steel Wheels, of which you show in the photo are marked as such:
They are still “cast” but the material is steel:
There 'ya go… Ed
That is that after '58 new cars could not be manufactured with cast iron wheels, but cast iron wheels were still made as replacement parts until 1968 (if I intepredeted that article correctly. Thus the 1960 date on a brackets cast iron wheel in the photo above.
ROAR
I don’t think so. If cast iron wheels were banned from new manufacture in 1958, I can’t think of any reason that any vendor would continue to make them after that date.
Cast iron wheels were allowed to be used as replacements on existing freight cars up to 1964 so the ribbed back 1960 wheel may indeed be cast iron although there WERE wrought steel wheels manufactured with brackets (AKA “ribs”).
The wheel in the top photo was manufactured by Southern Foundry and is a single-wear wrought steel wheel.
Ed