OK, while out walking today I saw something I’ve never seen before.
Located on one of Norfolk southern’s two Chicago district mains thro9ugh town, and I’m a little surprised because it APPEARED to serve no particular purpose in terms of the surrounding infastructure.
What I saw was a stretch of track maybe 40’ long that had a fabric woven of heavy guage filament covering the ties between the 2 rails only, and located at approx midpoint within that stretch were two big globs of grease, on the inboard (flange ) side of the rails.
The piles of residual grease were so large that full size pieces of ballast were suspended in the goo, just like marshmallows in jello.
It was easy to see 2 heavy rubber hoses getting tee’d together with the single combined line running under one side rail to a doghouse sized metal utility cabinet trackside, that had two much smaller hoses comeing out one side and running under the same roadbed perhaps 10 feet away from the grease gobs
Just guessing, but I’d guess the smaller lines were pneumatic “trigger” lines to activate the grease gobber?
Typically what uses inspire a railroad to install one of these set ups? (In other words: what the heck was it? and why was it there?)[|)]
It’s called a flange lubricator and they have been around for 50 years. Cuts down friction on the gage corner of the ball of curve rail (prevents wear, longer rail life)…Rail grease is now also applied by certain hi-rail trucks and a few specially equipped locomotives. (can’t print here the other nickname railroaders have for them)
The mat helps minimize excess grease from getting into the ballast and fouling it. From the sounds of it, somebody does not know how to maintain the flange lubricator and it is set to pump out too much grease. The grease is to be placed on the side of the ball of the rail (not on top) and the flange of the railcar wheels helps spread and carry the grease along the curve for quite a distance.
I’ve heard they are a matter of revenge. Track gangs do all the work and engineers get all the glory. "OK, Big Shot! Let’s see you handle this wheel slip!
There’s one of these near Columbia, on the CSX main line. It’s in the middle of a L O N G straight stretch of track; nearest curve is maybe 3/4 mile in one direction, something more than that going the other way. Seems like a funny location for it.
I didn’t know enough to look for a brand name, the only visible parts were like some 1 1/2" rubber hose , a 1" threaded pipe Tee, and some hose fittings. … Other than that, all that was visible was the gobs of grease, the aluminum shed the hoses ran into, and the (I’m guessing) pneumatic control lines. All the main componentry was either in the shed or under the grease gobbs.
SO, I guess it is the weight of the train that triggers the greaser?
You say it is done to extend the life of rail on curves,… would this be more likely to be depoloyed if adjacent turns are especially tight radius? I’m just trying to rationalize why I’ve not seen these things near ALL curves, suspecting there must be something unique about the nearest curve 1/8 mile away.
The Chicago Transit Authority is a big user of flange lubricators, especially around their 90-foot radius curves. They may cut down on wheel and rail wear but they don’t do too much about the squealing as a train passes.
You want steel shavings (steel dandruff) everywhere?
You tend to see flange lubricators clustered around the middle of a bunch of curves (usually 6 degrees [Radius 955.37 Ft or sharper] or greater), on grades and places where truck hunting becomes an issue. You place the paddles and the plunger on the unit where the grease can be carried both ways on the high side of the curve(s).
The grease can is sitting under a square or round box and lid about 10 feet to the side and some of the new ones are solar powered to help thin (by heat) and electrically pump the grease.
Santa Fe’s GP-60’s had on board lubricators (as an example)…
The grease can be oil based or organic (the two do NOT mix, the organic stuff is dark red in color as opposed to black)
Maybe I make things overly difficult by always trying to assume there must be some ‘formula’ behind everything.
And it just occurred to me today that the reason for the greaser being there could just as easily be a “band aid” approach towards fixing a localized nusiance as anything “calculated”.
Could just as easily be that the MOW gangs have been called out to fix rail in that nearby curve more frequently than somone thinks they should, and the greaser might be a “babysitter” type solution?
CSSHEGEWISCH:
I grew up in Southwest Philadelphia, where the subway surface cars (PCC trolleys) ran. I usually got on at a corner where the trolleys negotiated a sharp 90 degree turn in the street. The flangeways were manually greased about every 7 to 15 days. This enabled the trolleys to turn quietly for about three days after the greasing. The rest of the time you had to cover your ears.
I’ve also seen them used in spots where they don’t want to have to switch rail out, for as long as possible. There’s one just outside a street running track in L.A. Harbor, where the steel train goes each day. The track curves through the street running section. They probably figure that will save having to dig up the street longer. In the old days, they didn’t bother putting the tar paper down. The environmentalists loved that.
Dave
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