Blame dragonslayer for this as his post about that old coach over running the end of track prompts this question. The chains attached to the end of the trucks and attached to the car body I know are safety chains. I’ve also noticed them on some steam engine tenders. What prompted the use of those chains and what real purpose do they serve? Thanks in advance, Ken
They were put in place at the behest of the motive engineers so that when the Sky Hook lifts a loco and tender, the trucks won’t be left behind.[8)]
Don’t buy that? Well, then…I’m stumped.
[:o)]
Sorry, I had always understood they were to keep trucks from getting too far from a tender if it left the tracks for any reason. I assume they might have been unhooked at one end and thrown in front of the wheels to keep the loco in one place.
That was my understanding, too, also to keep the trucks from turning like 90 degrees in case of a minor derailment.
Brad
I’ll second the idea that it limits the radius that the truck can rotate.
Thanks folks. I can buy into all the answers. I think you all have valid points here, but it’s still not makeing sense to me why only certain cars and tenders had these chains and others do not. I know! It’s just one of those little things that don’t mount to a hill of beans, but just “bugs” ya. Ken
Even modern day rolling stock trucks are not fastened, but just have a large pin in the middle that sticks up into a hole in the bolster. If a car derails and turns over, the trucks fall off.
My uneducated guess is that the chains were to hold the trucks on the tender in an attempt to keep it from tipping over in the event of a derailment that might puncture the water tank and possibly drown or sweep the crew away. Some old timey passenger cars also had chains on the trucks, but I’m not sure what the rationale was for having them.
The chains were no doubt added as a result of what had happened during derailments in an attempt to correct a problem of some type.
It started in 1919. I did some digging in my personal info stack and found it.
Monday, March 8th, 1919. The crew for the B&S Railroad came in after the weekend off to find 3 cars up on wood blocks and the trucks gone. Some old timer got mad, grabbed some chain and said “Im locking them all down boys! Give them dirty theives somethign to fight!” It worked and caught on for the rest of railroads as regular practice.
Only in modern day has the pracitce stopped as cars have gotten too heavy and with regular use of 24 hours crews, theft of the “rims” has become very rare.
Yeah yeah, I am a [:o)] but it cracked me up writing it. I couldnt help it
I should’a known…![(-D]
Most steam engine tenders had chains. Helped keep the trucks were they needed to be in a derailment.
The trucks on diesels are fastened to the diesel, with provisions for removal for servicing. In a derailment, the trucks stay attached to the engine, unless it is a real bad derailment. SD40-2s have large links that run between the sideframe and the engine frame.
I would figure passenger car trucks would have the trucks chained for the same reason. The pinlifters on passenger cars require you to lift up, then rotate to pull the pin. Older cars had large chains that would be hooked between the cars, like trailer safety chains. Newer passenger cars with with tight-lock couplers have mostly done away with the chains.
Locomotive, tender and passenger car trucks have safety chains to keep the trucks approximately parallel to the carbody in case of derailment. To note what a difference this makes, check a photo of a passenger train derailment versus a freight derailment. Passenger cars generally stay pretty parallel to the tracks and take damage at the ends, where the structure is strongest. Freight cars tend to accordion, ending up at every which angle, and frequently broadside to the rails (or where the rails would be if the derailed cars hadn’t pretty much destroyed them.)
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Yeah, I was in a funny mood this morning.
All kidding aside, I always did wonder why the chains… Learn something everyday.
canazar, hope they used a MasterLock® to secure the chain and trucks???