I have photographed my cars and locomotives with the intention of using them in an inventory program I am designing/developing. One of the fields is the truck type. Knowing the name and what it looks like are two different things.
I do not know how to tell one from the other. I looked online and saw there are many, many designs. Is there a source I am not aware of to see what an Arch Bar, or Bettendorf, or ACL Barber and the other trucks look like so I can enter the right info.
The task is about as easy as being able to correctly identify all the different automobile models and their seemingly infinite variations.
Many railroad trucks have designs so similar, I can’t tell them apart.
One useful way of classifying trucks is by their physical attributes, such as strap metal versus solid side frames, friction bearings versus roller bearings, coil springs versus leaf springs, etc. These are useful distinctions because they have era and use consequences. Comparing the models to the trucks pictured in catalogs such as Walthers is also helpful in sorting things out (Vulcan vs Andrews, etc.)
Good luck,
Mark
A member here on this forum had a page on their web site that showed and named all the different truck types. Unfortunately I can’t find the link to it.[banghead]
“Guide to Freight Car Trucks”, by Jeff Wilson, December 2003 Model Railroader,is a very detailed article; also available here: http://www.trains.com/mrr/objects/pdf/mr_pi_5-06_freightcartrucks.pdf -
Some of the more common truck sets today are the Buckeye , Barber ,
Swing motion and ride control truck sets .
Thank you very much. I am printing the article as I type.