Ah!! It's almost the New Year, so it's time to revive the debate over PLAIN/JOURNAL/FRICTION bearings! I think it's only fair to put in a good word for friction bearings which were indeed an

Hi Richard, When I was at car shops in the late 60's, they were still soaking the journal pads for the solid bearing cars. I remember looking at the oil tanks that the pads were soaked in. I do not

Frank I have heard many times that starting a train was harder in very cold weather, and that the oil needs to warm up a bit. In other words if there were NO friction in a plain bearing, then the oil

Thank you Pierre.One would think that they could revise the truck and make it available for a broad market.Armand Premo

All true, as verified by previous research on the DLS trains by the late Terry Metcalfe and others, and very informative. Permit me to nitpick one thing, however, and that is the repeated use of the

Mark, I seem to remember talking to someone on the UP (conductor, brakeman) that was working during the steam era that said that hot boxes were more common during either the spring or fall when temp.

Wow! two Dixon's in one state. That is a surprise although my 1951 Form 70 only lists the Dixon in Oregon so I bet the location near Sac. is the correct one for this load. FHP (Frank H. Peacock) To:

Dear Group...    I spotted this tidbit that I would like to share with the Group. On page 65 of the April, 1942 issue of Railroad Magazine, I found this Q&A:  Q)... Publish information about the

The US Army owned some ARA 1923 box cars -- there is a photo of one in the Classic Freight Cars Volume 7, and I have a scan of one with reweigh stencil LKOD 10-1958. But I agree I haven't heard of any

Hello Doug, Thanks for the additional info. The locations I've reviewed on the UP were "isolated" with respect to human population, but not in terms of train traffic or availability of stock cars.

Thanks to all who responded to my question about the photo's.There were some leads that came up to check locally here in Detroit.If that does not pan out I will defiantly get back to those of you who

Armand, Currently, TLT is the only source for Simplex bolster trucks. They are reasonably well executed and certainly up to todays stasndards. Just one important detail. They are made with the truck

There was also a location named Dixon on the UP near Ontario, CA. See http://coastdaylight.com/ljames1/scph_sb_dixon.html Jim Lancaster

The cars were equipped with Simplex trucks.Does anyone know of another source for these trucks?Armand Premo

Hello Tim, Frank provided you with the info on the cars, I'll add a few comments related to their operation. I don't believe the roller bearing cars materially impacted train speeds vs. use of

That car may have been built in 1941 but the 1943 ORER shows only tank cars under US War Department. Also, USAX was a post WWII reporting mark, which replaced the USQX on the WWII tank cars. I would

Tim, I'm not arguing that some roads / builders used non standard sizes, just asking the Canadians if this is correct for this car, which could also be modified into a Soo Line car, but not with that

Classification: UNCLASSIFIED Caveats: NONE Folks; Could you take a look at this TP&W box car and tell me what you think its ancestry is? It looks like a 10'IH early PS-1, blt Apr 1948, with

I like the #11 myself; used to get them from my father. Haven't tried asking my brother or sister, but they're good choices, too (for me, anyway ­ 8^)). Thanks! -- Brian P. Ehni From: Bill

Larry and others I Googled "#15 or #12C scalpel blade" and found several sources. Does anyone have a favorite source? Also what other handle sizes and blade types have people found helpful? Bill