There is a picture in this quarters Warbonnet that shows a Santa Fe F unit with the front end hanging over a wall (I think it overshot the platform at LAUPT). The front truck is hanging from the loco unsuported. On freight cars gravity is what keeps the truck under the cars. I thought loco trucks were the same way, obviously I was wrong. What holds the trucks to the locos? Is there a pin or some other attachment to keep the truck in place or are there chains to keep it from seperateing so the cables / air line dont get ripped apart in case of seperation?
I would guess the power cables to the traction motors and the brake parts. Have not seen any diesels with chains running from the body to the trucks, lately. Other than that I think they may be just sitting on a bearing surface. In the builders photos there always seems to be a flat-like surface in the center of the power truck.
That’s what I thought, but in the picture the truck is clearly not supported by anything underneath and I find it real hard to belive the electrical cables and air line could hold that weight. I’ll scan it and post a picture of it tommarrow.
Quite a few have safety chains to keep the truck with the locomotive in case of a wreck.
Dash 9s and SD90Macs have the chains too…not real noticable, but if you stand next to the truck you can see them.
And yes, the cables and blower ducting, air lines and such can hold it on…
Last, the way most locomotives are sprung requires the chains, and a blind kingpin…they can bounce quite a great deal on bad track at speed.
Ed
on EMD units the truck is held by a locking pin in the centerpin.
a locomotive can be lifted and the trucks will lift too.
The loco in question is a F3-unit if my memory serves me right. I always thought they had a lock on the centerpin also.
Well I forgot the pic. Thanks for the answers though.
Trains Magazine, March 2000 issue, p. 68, “Case of Santa Fe’s Flying F3” for info.
There are no centerpin locks or certerpins for that matter… side bearing clips .
When I saw the tv program “Made In America” episode about the GE locomotive manufacturing, they showed the frame assembly being lowered on to the truck assembly, which had a huge metal cone that was used to guide the frame into place.
Correct for the newer bolsterless trucks.
I have a video where it shows a locomotive being lowered onto its trucks, a technician is holding a spring like thing open and when the engine is lowered it seems to snap into place
or something like that. I don’t know if it has anything to do with holding the truck on. It would seem that there has to be a pin or something to help support the engine on the trucks. I have seen pictures of engines rolled over after an accident, and the trucks stay on in some cases.
In 1962, there was a derailment on the Atlantic Coast Line near here. An F7 hit a misalligned switch at about 80 mph on the dual track. The engine derailed, killing the crew. The forward truck coasted on for about a half mile from the wreck.
At 80 mph the side bearing clips are not enough to hold things together.
No pin !!! either chains or side bearing clips. except on bolsterless trucks.