I am not in the rail industry, so please bear with me if these questions seem a little “dumb.”
On freight cars, do wheelsets with roller bearings just sit in the “pocket” on the truck? I mean do the truck just ride on the bearings?
Is there any maintenance to roller bearings?
Why is there paint on some of the cap of roller bearings on freight cars? Does the paint serve any purpose?
Thanks for the replies in advance.
The bearing is part of the wheel and axle. It is pressed onto the end of the solid axle. The axle is then set in the pocket of a truck assembly.
Most have a small plate of metal beneath the bearing to hold the axle in place when lifting the whole truck (the one in the picture does not). They are lubricated at the factory and usually require no additional maintenance. They make noises or heat up when the bearing surfaces start to fail and detectors will note hot or noisy bearings on the moving trains.
#1 Yes the bearing just sit in the pocket of the side frame , there is however a bearing adaptor that actually sits on the outer part of the bearing and this what the side frame actually rides on so the entire weight of the car does not sit directly on the bearing .
#2 there is no maintance to the bearings , when they fail the whole wheel set is changed .
#3 The paint on the bearing caps I am told is done by the QA inspector at the wheel shop to shoe it was inspected . Generally only a few wheels every hour recieve an inspection at a wheel shop .