Does anyone know of the top of their head, how much a typical 4 wheel truck with rib-back wheels from the 1940’s would weigh?
The Current wheels weigh roughly 4000 lbs each , and the side frames with bolster , springs , friction shoes , side bearings , bearing adapters and brake beams another 4000 lbs . So my guess would be roughly 8000 lbs ,.
My fuzzy recollectoin from the great pair of articles in Trains many years ago by the late John H. Armstrong was about 7,000 lbs. See -
| The hardware that supports, guides, and cushions freight cars Trains, July 1983 page 50 The remarkable three-piece freight-car truck - 1 ( “ARMSTRONG, JOHN H.”, TECHNOLOGY, TRUCK, TRN ) |
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| Hunting? Rock and Roll? How do we hang the brake rigging? Trains, August 1983 page 46 The remarkable three-piece freight-car truck - 2 ( “ARMSTRONG, JOHN H.”, TECHNOLOGY, TRUCK, TRN ) |
However, here’s what the article in the Trains.com ‘‘Railroad Reference’’ series of ‘ABCs of Railroading’ series below,
Freight car trucks and carbodies# Key components of a freight carBy Paul D. Schneider
Published: Monday, May 01, 2006
at&nb
When you’re talking about ribbed interiors to wheels, you’re generally describing cast iron wheels; by the 1940s these were nearing the end of their use.
Looking at diagrams of freight equipment indicating wheels such as these, the weight of one truck is given almost consistently as 6920 pounds. Steel wheels will increase the weight per truck (four wheels) by about 1500 pounds.
These weights are for 33-inch wheels that were commonly found under 50-ton and 70-ton cars. A modern car has gone through a couple of changes in wheel profiles, a change in axle configuration, and an increase in wheel diameter to 36 inches, which would no doubt make the total for a truck closer to 9000 pounds these days. If the brake beams were replaced by truck-mounted brake cylinders, I’m sure the weight would increase beyond that.