For all of You Train Lovers
- Thread starter khryslerkid
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Life on the job as a rail car inspector.
You know, there's a lot of work involved in maintaining freight car rolling stock, including welding, riveting, steel fabrication, pipe fitting, wood working, changing wear items like wheels and brake shoes, parts that wear out such as door rollers and locking mechanisms, hand brake assemblies, fixing safety appliances like running boards, ladders and steps....
But before that stuff gets attended to, whether in a shop or right on the track where it rolled in, someone has to inspect the train to find these defects. So here's what you'd look for in a typical inspection:
Starting at one end of a car, the first part that sticks out the farthest is the coupler that joins rail cars together. These are of various configurations depending on the style of car but have some basic commonalities. They have to be compatible with each other so things like the knuckle that interlocks one car to another have to fit each other. So here's a diagram to show some parts:
The green part at the left is the knuckle that I mentioned. The red dot above it is the pin that extends all the way through it that it will rotate around when the knuckle is allowed to open up to uncouple the car. These items are checked, knuckle pins often end up breaking and are replaced in the field. A broken pin won't let the cars separate as a separate knuckle lock keeps things together. The knuckle itself is checked for wear, a sliding gauge will let you know if it has worn past the limits.
The knuckle is set into a coupler with that pin, the coupler itself is held in place with the next large red pin, in an open cast steel yoke, and inside the yoke is a shock absorbing device called a draft gear. The parts are held in place in the car by 1" thick straps (labeled 'Yoke plate parts in the diagram) which are held in place by rivets or bolts, usually 7/8" grade 8.
So when inspecting, the knuckle and pin are checked, looking underneath you'd check for loose bolts and worn plates, evidence of leaks from the draft gear if it is fluid filled, as well as other components such as the uncoupling lever that operates the knuckle to separate the cars, and the brackets for same. To prove that you actually looked, you'd then place a chalk mark on the coupler to indicate that the bolts were found to be tight. The air hose that couples the car air brakes to each other are also checked; if they're over eight years old they get replaced even if showing no cuts or other issues. While looking under the car, other items are checked as well, since the wheels, springs and various brake rods, levers and components are close to the end. It's common to find a broken coil spring, or perhaps cracks in the center sill frame area, or a loose or broken center casting (the part that the truck swivels on at each end to allow the wheel trucks to rotate when going around a curve).
Moving around the side of the car, ladders and sill steps are checked for cracks, loose fasteners and bends that place ladder rungs too close to the car body. Passing by the first set of wheels (usually two pair at each end on a normal box car) you'd inspect for wear such as a rim worn thin, flange too high or thin, flat spots on the wheel from hard braking, evidence of over heating because of sticking brakes, and you'd also note if the roller bearings showed signs of overheating. Right beside the wheels are the brake shoes that would usually get replaced right on the spot if worn to condemning limits. Once past the wheels, you'd drop down again to inspect underneath from a different angle, again checking for things like those springs, whether any brake rigging is out of place or dragging, and whether the side bearings between the car body and truck bolsters have proper clearance or are loose. Sometimes a brake rod will be riding on an axle and get worn, it can be repaired with welded on plates.
By the time you've walked to the middle of the car, you'd be checking the sliding side doors to be sure they're properly closed and locked in place, common issues might be doors that won't close because warehouse operators have damaged them with a forklift. Top and bottom door tracks are checked for straightness, and plug doors - doors that slide shut and then get sucked in with the locking mechanisms to fit flush with the side of the car - have their own set of locks to inspect.
When you get to the other end, you're pretty much repeating all the things you did at the start. Usually you'd work in pairs so that someone is checking the far side while you do the near side, but it's not uncommon for one person to walk all the way around if needed. In constant radio communication with the lead hand, you'd call in each bad order with a car number, the problem and the location on the car. Most of these cars have a hand brake on one end, and that is usually called the "B" end. The other end is the "A" end. If you were looking a a car from the "B" end, your right would be the car's right. So something at that end, on the right side would be noted as location 'BR'. The four axles on a car would start with #1 at the "B" end, so if you had a wheel problem you'd identify the location like "R3" or whatever it would be.
Of course, this is a brief example of one type of car; there would be different things to check on other types such as tank cars, bulk material hoppers for ore or coal, covered grain hopper cars, flat cars for lumber, automobile car carriers, the list goes on. Each type has its own special areas that need inspecting.
Just in case you thought it was going to be easy, you were usually allowed one minute to inspect a car (thirty seconds per side) and you might have 100 or so on a 6,000 foot track.
Once an inspection was complete and some car problems were found, if it was a minor problem that could be repaired in place, it was done so. Major issues like replacing wheels could be done on the track, but were often switched out to a repair track, and things that needed fabricating like holes in the steel floor or sideswipe damage would also go to the repair track.
Sometimes there would be a problem with a freight car but it wasn't one of ours, it would be a foreign car from a different railroad. Proper billing charges for each repair would be sent off to that company if we fixed their cars - sometimes they'd want to do certain repairs themself and we'd just do necessary safety items if needed and ship the car back home to them.
Another thing that had to be done every trip would be an air test of the entire train, but that's a story for another day.
An example of freight car inspection rules in much more depth can be viewed here: https://tc.canada.ca/sites/default/files/migrated/freight_car_rules_dec09_2014.pdf
You know, there's a lot of work involved in maintaining freight car rolling stock, including welding, riveting, steel fabrication, pipe fitting, wood working, changing wear items like wheels and brake shoes, parts that wear out such as door rollers and locking mechanisms, hand brake assemblies, fixing safety appliances like running boards, ladders and steps....
But before that stuff gets attended to, whether in a shop or right on the track where it rolled in, someone has to inspect the train to find these defects. So here's what you'd look for in a typical inspection:
Starting at one end of a car, the first part that sticks out the farthest is the coupler that joins rail cars together. These are of various configurations depending on the style of car but have some basic commonalities. They have to be compatible with each other so things like the knuckle that interlocks one car to another have to fit each other. So here's a diagram to show some parts:
The green part at the left is the knuckle that I mentioned. The red dot above it is the pin that extends all the way through it that it will rotate around when the knuckle is allowed to open up to uncouple the car. These items are checked, knuckle pins often end up breaking and are replaced in the field. A broken pin won't let the cars separate as a separate knuckle lock keeps things together. The knuckle itself is checked for wear, a sliding gauge will let you know if it has worn past the limits.
The knuckle is set into a coupler with that pin, the coupler itself is held in place with the next large red pin, in an open cast steel yoke, and inside the yoke is a shock absorbing device called a draft gear. The parts are held in place in the car by 1" thick straps (labeled 'Yoke plate parts in the diagram) which are held in place by rivets or bolts, usually 7/8" grade 8.
So when inspecting, the knuckle and pin are checked, looking underneath you'd check for loose bolts and worn plates, evidence of leaks from the draft gear if it is fluid filled, as well as other components such as the uncoupling lever that operates the knuckle to separate the cars, and the brackets for same. To prove that you actually looked, you'd then place a chalk mark on the coupler to indicate that the bolts were found to be tight. The air hose that couples the car air brakes to each other are also checked; if they're over eight years old they get replaced even if showing no cuts or other issues. While looking under the car, other items are checked as well, since the wheels, springs and various brake rods, levers and components are close to the end. It's common to find a broken coil spring, or perhaps cracks in the center sill frame area, or a loose or broken center casting (the part that the truck swivels on at each end to allow the wheel trucks to rotate when going around a curve).
Moving around the side of the car, ladders and sill steps are checked for cracks, loose fasteners and bends that place ladder rungs too close to the car body. Passing by the first set of wheels (usually two pair at each end on a normal box car) you'd inspect for wear such as a rim worn thin, flange too high or thin, flat spots on the wheel from hard braking, evidence of over heating because of sticking brakes, and you'd also note if the roller bearings showed signs of overheating. Right beside the wheels are the brake shoes that would usually get replaced right on the spot if worn to condemning limits. Once past the wheels, you'd drop down again to inspect underneath from a different angle, again checking for things like those springs, whether any brake rigging is out of place or dragging, and whether the side bearings between the car body and truck bolsters have proper clearance or are loose. Sometimes a brake rod will be riding on an axle and get worn, it can be repaired with welded on plates.
By the time you've walked to the middle of the car, you'd be checking the sliding side doors to be sure they're properly closed and locked in place, common issues might be doors that won't close because warehouse operators have damaged them with a forklift. Top and bottom door tracks are checked for straightness, and plug doors - doors that slide shut and then get sucked in with the locking mechanisms to fit flush with the side of the car - have their own set of locks to inspect.
When you get to the other end, you're pretty much repeating all the things you did at the start. Usually you'd work in pairs so that someone is checking the far side while you do the near side, but it's not uncommon for one person to walk all the way around if needed. In constant radio communication with the lead hand, you'd call in each bad order with a car number, the problem and the location on the car. Most of these cars have a hand brake on one end, and that is usually called the "B" end. The other end is the "A" end. If you were looking a a car from the "B" end, your right would be the car's right. So something at that end, on the right side would be noted as location 'BR'. The four axles on a car would start with #1 at the "B" end, so if you had a wheel problem you'd identify the location like "R3" or whatever it would be.
Of course, this is a brief example of one type of car; there would be different things to check on other types such as tank cars, bulk material hoppers for ore or coal, covered grain hopper cars, flat cars for lumber, automobile car carriers, the list goes on. Each type has its own special areas that need inspecting.
Just in case you thought it was going to be easy, you were usually allowed one minute to inspect a car (thirty seconds per side) and you might have 100 or so on a 6,000 foot track.
Once an inspection was complete and some car problems were found, if it was a minor problem that could be repaired in place, it was done so. Major issues like replacing wheels could be done on the track, but were often switched out to a repair track, and things that needed fabricating like holes in the steel floor or sideswipe damage would also go to the repair track.
Sometimes there would be a problem with a freight car but it wasn't one of ours, it would be a foreign car from a different railroad. Proper billing charges for each repair would be sent off to that company if we fixed their cars - sometimes they'd want to do certain repairs themself and we'd just do necessary safety items if needed and ship the car back home to them.
Another thing that had to be done every trip would be an air test of the entire train, but that's a story for another day.
An example of freight car inspection rules in much more depth can be viewed here: https://tc.canada.ca/sites/default/files/migrated/freight_car_rules_dec09_2014.pdf
YY1
Well-Known Member
@polywideblock
Interesting your crossing signs say "Railway" crossing.
Ours say "RailRoad" crossing.
Those two terms, wile basically interchangeable, were often swapped for one another if a company had to undergo some type of financial reorganization, often emerging as the same root name but with that suffix changed from one to the other.
Interesting your crossing signs say "Railway" crossing.
Ours say "RailRoad" crossing.
Those two terms, wile basically interchangeable, were often swapped for one another if a company had to undergo some type of financial reorganization, often emerging as the same root name but with that suffix changed from one to the other.
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A load of new rail was parked on the siding outside of a warehouse where I pick up stuff for work.
As you can see, the rail is one length for the whole train, crossing from one car to another.
These are dedicated bulk rail carriers, not standard flatcars. The racks are welded in place.
Heavy duty. 136RE is a strong, hard wear resistant grade of track. The 136 means that it weighs 136 pounds per yard.
You may take a piece of railroad track for granted but there is a lot of engineering going into a seemingly simple shape, designed to provide self centering of the wheels, quietness, wear reduction and stability on curves.
Typical rail is a 1084 hot rolled steel consisting of 0.7% to 0.8% carbon and 0.7% to 1% manganese. It is tough and weldable. The high manganese content helps with hardening to prevent surface cracks.
As you can see, the rail is one length for the whole train, crossing from one car to another.
These are dedicated bulk rail carriers, not standard flatcars. The racks are welded in place.
Heavy duty. 136RE is a strong, hard wear resistant grade of track. The 136 means that it weighs 136 pounds per yard.
You may take a piece of railroad track for granted but there is a lot of engineering going into a seemingly simple shape, designed to provide self centering of the wheels, quietness, wear reduction and stability on curves.
Typical rail is a 1084 hot rolled steel consisting of 0.7% to 0.8% carbon and 0.7% to 1% manganese. It is tough and weldable. The high manganese content helps with hardening to prevent surface cracks.
YY1
Well-Known Member
Question for those that follow railroading more than I do-
I've been seeing a few Morrison-Knudson rebuilt GP and SD 40 units lately.
Most of them have had their cabs replaced.
What was wrong with the EMD cab, that it necessitated replacement?
I gotta say those MK cabs are ugly compared to the OEM EMD cab.
I've been seeing a few Morrison-Knudson rebuilt GP and SD 40 units lately.
Most of them have had their cabs replaced.
What was wrong with the EMD cab, that it necessitated replacement?
I gotta say those MK cabs are ugly compared to the OEM EMD cab.
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Do you have a picture or example? What is the livery? Cabs, remanufactured or even on brand new units are often built to a customer's request. For instance, Wabtec (formerly GE) will confer with main clients such as BNSF and CN and plan what the next generation will look like, since they'll likely buy hundreds of copies apiece. But Southern Pacific may want something different.
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Another set of wheels hot off the press...
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