ribbed back wheels vs smooth back wheels

[billgiannelli]

what is the purpose of the ribbed back wheels vs smooth back wheels?
are they just for emulating "real - life" railroad wheels?
thanks
Bill

[J3a-614]

what is the purpose of the ribbed back wheels vs smooth back wheels?
are they just for emulating "real - life" railroad wheels?
thanks
Bill

Yes, they are.  The ribbed back wheels simulate older cast wheels, and the ribs helped with equalizing stresses in cooling.  Today many wheels are rolled or "forged," and the process results in the smooth backs you see on wheels today. 

[Len]

If you're modeling a particular time period, cast wheels started going away during the 50's. They were banned from use on new cars in 1957, and banned completely from interchange service in 1970. Steel wheels started gaining in popularity around 1920, so would not be out of place in the later portion of the steam era.

Len

[Trainman203]

I remember those ribbed wheels very well.  On outside braced wood cars, which were still around in numbers in the early 60s, they screamed railroad history.

[electrical whiz kid]

Trainman;
You are on the mark.  The New Haven, which was pretty up-to-date with stuff, still had them late.  What was funny was when I spied a New Haven box car over at Bennett's Switch, Indiana, when I was stationed at Bunker Hill AFB.  It had them.  I had asked one of the old C&O salts why that car was there, and he told me they had probably lost track of it.  Did that happen, really?  Equipment wasn't all that cheap tobe that careless.

Rich C.   

[Len]

Rich,

The New Haven went through five management changes between 1947 and 1956, with major changes to how things were done after each change. There were also records lost, along with the buildings they were in, due to flooding during the 1954 and 1955 hurricane seasons.

So it's very possible there is old New Haven equipment scattered around no one knows, or cares, about.

Len

[electrical whiz kid]

Len;
And you know, if it has been managed in an other than a rapacious manner by board members, it would quite possibly still be running today-maybe even solvent-for once...
RIch

[Len]

Like the saying goes, "If wishes were money we'd all be millionaires."

Too bad Palmer Sr. didn't live a little longer. He was actually keeping the NH in the black after WW-II ended.

Len

[brokenrail]

If you're modeling a particular time period, cast wheels started going away during the 50's. They were banned from use on new cars in 1957, and banned completely from interchange service in 1970. Steel wheels started gaining in popularity around 1920, so would not be out of place in the later portion of the steam era.

Len

Remembered the reason they were banned ???They Shattered .Talk about a recall
Johnny

[UPTODAY]

The West Side Lumber Co. ran arch bar trucks,ribbed wheels,and link and pin couplers until they quit in 1960.

A bit of history
UPTODAY

[rogertra]

The West Side Lumber Co. ran arch bar trucks,ribbed wheels,and link and pin couplers until they quit in 1960.

A bit of history
UPTODAY

Yes, but they were not a common carrier and didn't interchange their cars.  So the same rules didn't apply.

Happy New Year.

Roger T.

[brokenrail]

The West Side Lumber Co. ran arch bar trucks,ribbed wheels,and link and pin couplers until they quit in 1960.

A bit of history
UPTODAY

I like that.Wonder if they had any issues with there equipment running them like that or who they paid off to look the other way
Johnny Adam

[Len]

The West Side Lumber Co. ran arch bar trucks,ribbed wheels,and link and pin couplers until they quit in 1960.

A bit of history
UPTODAY

I like that.Wonder if they had any issues with there equipment running them like that or who they paid off to look the other way
Johnny Adam

No payoffs. Like Roger said, the WSLC equipment was old and never left home rails. The cast wheel ban was on installing them on new equipment (1957) and using them in interchange service (1970). No one cared about home use only equipment.

Len

[UPTODAY]

Thanks everyone,now we know the rest of the story!
UPTODAY

[Trainman203]

I had asked one of the old C&O salts why that car was there, and he told me they had probably lost track of it.  Did that happen, really?  Equipment wasn't all that cheap tobe that careless.

Rich C.   

Rich there were two old 34' twin hoppers that sat rusting away and forgotten back in the swamp here for years on orphan track. Someone put them up on YouTube and within a couple of weeks someone snuck in and cut them up for scrap.