When were the last friction bearing freight cars converted to roller bearings or phased out of use on railroads in the US?
I’m asking this because after a recent trip to the TVRM this past weekend I noticed an old tank car with journal boxes on it, and if I was correct with with the markings I saw, it said last repaint and service 1985. I would’ve thought that by 1985 pretty much everything was roller bearing.
There is a retrofit that puts roller bearings into the old journal boxes. IIRC, those won’t usually have the covers on them.
I think there are exceptions to the rule, too.
Everything in interchange service had to have rollers in 1984 or 85. However, MofW and other cars unlikely to be interchanged, or historic can be given a waiver, if the owner agrees to re-pack the “plain” bearings at their expense as required.
Probably the most common exception to that rule is rail museums with operating equipment. At Steamtown, all of the passenger cars, as well as the loco tenders have roller bearings on the axles. The journal cover was left in place to maintain the historic appearance. If you lift that cover (if you don’t work/volunteer there, ask someone who does), you’ll see the end of a roller bearing.
Conrail kept 70 ton ore jennies with friction bearings way past the “drop dead” date. They weren’t used in interchange sevice, so were legal.
Do you mean “plain bearing” ? Or are you an employee of Timken bearing company ?