| Posted by on June 15, 2013 | |
Wild shot, would of been a sight to see in person.
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I still find it amazing they were running friction bearings in 1998! What a great line, if a little old fashoned!
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How does the type of bearing have anything to do with brake shoe smoke?
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The friction bearing axles used journal oil to keep them freely rolling and that oil would migrate to the wheel and truck in general and when the wheel/axle heated up due to breaking it would burn off. I'm sure some oil also made its way to the shoes themselves but to what extent I'm not sure. This photo is a good example of the fugitive oil around the axle and on the wheel.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=416960
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I'm Surprised the EPA didn't have a Stroke over this smoke !!
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I sure do miss seeing the brake shoe smoke on heavy down grade trains (but not the smell). You could always get a sense of the enormous amount of weight the train was controlling.
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I'll buy that some fugitive oil from friction bearings gets to the rim of the wheel where it is hot enough during braking to smoke. But the amount can't be enough to make much smoke. And I'd be very surprised if the axle got hot enough to smoke the oil. Now a hot box is something else.
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| Posted by on June 19, 2013 | |
Fabulous! Had a similar experience on the LS&I in June 1999, alas not an RP-worthy shot...
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