Shipping Locomotives

Michael_Evans

thread killer
I was watching a show on how locos are made and my dad asked me a question I could not answer. After the loco is built how do they ship it? Do they use already built tracks? What about independent railroads that are not connected to pre built tracks? By truck?

Thanks
Michael
 
Over here, they tend to do a lot of movement by road now. I think they still move some of them by rail, but I think it is just more hastle. - please correct me if I am wrong anyone.
 
This is my take on north american practice:
New locomotives that are standard gauge and intended to be used in north america are shipped on their own wheels in a train. Locomotives going to other continents generally get shipped on flat cars to a port. (locomotives that meet FRA requirments can be shipped on their own wheels to the port) Narrow gauge and standard gauge locomotives going to isolated places are shipped on flats to the closest convienient spot, then transfered to trucks for the last leg.

Old locomotives can be shipped on their own wheels if they have roller bearings. If they still have friction bearings, they move them on flatcars. The GE "ton" locomotives can be shipped on their own wheels as long it has been converted to roller bearings and the train does not exceed 35mph. At speeds greater than that, the traction motors are destroyed. The safe way to move a GE "ton" series is on a flat or truck.

Steam locomotives are different. To ship a steam locomotive on its own wheels, the main rod must be removed or else the pistons must be removed. Also most railroads will only move steam engines if they have roller bearings. The easier and more common way to move a steam engine is on a flat (or truck).

Cheers,
Ben
 
Friction bearings are still in use on some old MOW cars. I forget exactly how they get around the regulations, but there's a small breakdown train near where I live. (stuck on a siding) Most of the train has roller bearings, but two cars; one a water tank car, and the other a side dump car, have friction bearings.
________
Buy a new condo in Pattaya
 
Last edited:
I suspect the ban on friction bearings applies to cars in interchange service (and a locomotive on it's own wheels would be considered a "car".). A railroad's MOW equipment is rarely interchanged to another road, so the ban on friction bearings does not apply.

ns
 
...well...no...

8) Friction bearings, are not allowed on North American rails.

If so, many relics could be shipped via rail!

If you see a friction bearing journal on active equipment, it has been reconfigured to tapered roller bearings.
 
In 2001, We (the train museum) moved the last of our cars from downtown to Calera, about 45 miles south of town. All (except one or two?) were friction bearing, but NS and CSX were gracious enough to move them in a dedicated extra train.
 
In 2001, We (the train museum) moved the last of our cars from downtown to Calera, about 45 miles south of town. All (except one or two?) were friction bearing, but NS and CSX were gracious enough to move them in a dedicated extra train.
NS did the same for us when we moved several years back. The class one carriers can move friction bearings, but because of the special care required (slow orders,etc) they charge more to move it than they would if it had roller bearings. If there is a whole slew of friction bearing equipment, they seem to be more likely to move them. (they might still charge more, but I think they did it for free in our case)
Also, equipment that doesn't leave a railroad's property is exempt from the friction bearing ban. UP, Amtrak, and CSX all use some friction bearing MOW cars. (mostly cranes, but a few others also) Also plenty of shortlines use friction bearing equipped engines.

Cheers,
Ben.
 
Before my farther passed away, he and I had a rather interesting discussion on friction bearings vs roller bearings. What he told me was eye opening. He was an engineer (design type not rr) and had dealt with this kind of bearing for some time.

We were talking about them, when he noted that roller bearings weren't always better than the friction type. When I asked him why, he explained it like this:

A roller bearing typically will have six or seven moving parts, if not more. That's six or seven more surfaces which can get flat spots or develop problems and seize. Also, you have to regularly pack these bearings with grease. Without grease, they seize and create a whole host of problems.

Friction bearings on the other hand work with a kind of surface called a "babbit." This babbit is usually made of bronze, or brass. Most often the latter of the two. Curiously, you can cause brass to absorb oil; and it's th is property of it that makes it so useful. Calling them "friction" bearings isn't entirely true, since if they work properly no friction is involved. The Babbit will have been soaked with a ton of oil prior to being installed. This oil creates a sheen or slickness to the babbit. Under pressure a small ammount will ooze out. The bearing then rides on this. Rather than actually coming in contact with the axle, the friction bearing "floats" on a millimeter or less coating of oil.

Due to the lack of moving parts, a friction bearing doesn't need that much work done to it on a regular basis. So long as you keep the bearing oiled (which only has to be done every week or so) it will never wear out.
________
Live Sex
 
Last edited:
Two points:

... Rather than actually coming in contact with the axle, the friction bearing "floats" on a millimeter or less coating of oil.

It's true the friction bearing "floats" on a coating of oil; however, the coating of oil is on the order of 1 / 1000th of a millimeter thick, not a milimeter.

... Due to the lack of moving parts, a friction bearing doesn't need that much work done to it on a regular basis. So long as you keep the bearing oiled (which only has to be done every week or so) it will never wear out.

Oiling was required more than once a week; in the U.S., trains had to be stopped and inspected every 500 miles; the bearings were a major item (though not the only one) of concern, and were always inspected and oil added as needed.

ns
 
Well actually the Alaska road is not connected by any lines because we saw an Alaska road baggage express car came by 5 months ago headed for Seattle. from Seattle they take it on a tanker to Juneau and there you go.
 
We had a few Siemens 642 Desiros brought in to Escondido last year. Being light rail, they couldn't be brought in with the big boys, so they brought them in on articulated road trailers. It was supposed to be quite a party.
I'm not sure if the trailers were used on the freeways all the way from the ship docks in Los Angeles. That would have been quite a sight.

:cool: Claude
 
Hello All
As a maintenance engineer I see both types of bearings in service every day. Anti-friction bearings (ball or roller) are usually used when lubrication is an issue such as in remote areas or locations. Friction bearings which are also known simply as bushes are used in locations where lubrication is either constant or easily added. Next time you take a drive in a car remember that the engine relies on friction bearings to run. However the bearings are constantly oiled by a pressurized oil pump.

Very rarely will you see an anti-friction bearing seize or lock up. They will usually wear out to the point that parts will fall out and yet the shaft will continue turning. Occasionally when they are badly worn and the rollers are no longer contained in the correct location they may bind up but it is very rare. However if the bearing wears to the point that part of the bearing falls out then there is no telling where this part may end up such as jammed between two gears.

Friction bearings on the other hand are very susceptible to seizure especially if the lubrication is lost when the bearing is relatively new. They also give off a lot of heat when they lose lubrication which also contributes to them locking up. Usually when they do lock up the bearing has actually melted and then solidified onto the shaft.

At the end of the day both types of bearings have their uses and disadvantages. I would say that the use of anti-friction bearings in rail car journals is not only due to the possible seizure of friction bearings but also due to other factors such as lessened maintenance, greater availability, remote location etc.

Back on topic, if you search on rail pictures for AC6000CW you will see some pics taken here in Australia of BHP moving their new AC6000CW's by road. They usually ship the loco without the trucks.

As for the Alaska Rail Road, they ship a lot of rail items by ship. There are dedicated ferries or barges with built in rail lines for the trains. Again search on rail pictures for SD70MAC and Alaska and I think there is one or two pictures of the SD70MAC's sitting in the ferries.

Regards

Phil
 
Hi,

I might chime in to tell about european practices. Regular gauge rolling stock ist generally moved on its own rails. Rolling stock built for customers outside Europe ist frequently tested on suitable lines near the manufacturer's facilities. Some privately operated railways are making extra bucks by allowing test on their tracks.

Because of the dense network of rail lines, rolling stock for export abroad is usually brought to a suitable harbour on its own wheels, although normally not on its own power. During transshipment, the wheels may have to be changed for ones whose tyres have profiles conforming to local regulations. This is the case with rolling stock shipped between North America and Europe. Modern rolling stock usually runs on bogeys, which may have to be exchanged. This would take care of different gauges too.

There are no general restrictions against friction bearings in Europe. Roller bearings were not introduced until the end of the age of steam. Therefore most historic steam rolling stock including locomotives are still fitted with friction bearings. Particularly during the summer months and on weekends many historic trains including steam locomotives are regularly operated even on state railway lines. Some of them are owned by the big (state) railways, others by dedicated preservation companies. Private railway companies are opening their tracks for historic trains too.
Historic steam locomotives operating on german state lines have to have radio equipment and be fitted with automatic brake equipment. If not, they have to be towed by a modern locomotive. In that case, the drive rods are either to renoved, or the regulator has to be opened a bit, as to allow enough steam flowing through the cylinders to keep the cylinder lubrication working.

Narrow gauge rolling stock were usually transported on special regular gauge flat cars. This occured quite regularly to transport e.g. locomotives from their lines to large locomotive works for the more extensive service work which needed to be done at regular, usually four to five year intervals. It was simply more economic to thansport a narrow gauge locomotive by special flat cars to centralized maintenance works, than to expand local maintenance facilities.

Between the 1920s and 1960s freight cars were routinely transported by road trailers over public roads pulled by powerful tractors. These transports occured between railway stations and outlying factories, which had no own rail link for the famous "last mile".
Transporting historic rolling stock by road trailers is rarely employed. It is used to rescue historic rolling stock from static exhibits, if there are no tracks in the vicinity or, more likely, the locomotive or traincar have that much detoriated, that they cannot be moved on their own wheels anymore.

Cheers,

Konni
 
Last edited:
Meanwhile- Back at the ranch

-- on the V&T (virginia & Truckee ) there are pictures of one of the early switchers being taken up the Geiger grade behind a mule team.

A little while ago a Large Loco was repositioned in a park ((See U tube - Thanks Ferrous -- Omaha Neb.) using a multi wheel transport flat _ Talk about "Trainz on the Road"

(Thanks for all the good info on bearings-- Central Station (Sydney Aus)had manned -visual "Hot Box detectors " not so long ago - so that fires could be detected before Suburban cars went underground. )

Here in Aus - Dmu's built in Qld are shipped on "wrong bogies" to traverse std gauge to West Aus(3000+ kms)
South Aus had a special "crocodile" transport wagon to move pieces of its Narrow gauge fleet- great big reused steam loco wheels
ANd South Aus again- were transporting loaded coal train as a unit - coal waggons pushed on to rails fixed to flat car tops- this was due to floods destroying some bridges near Leigh Creek- the fixings allowed the rails to "snake " about

Waz
 
Last edited:
-- on the V&T (virginia & Truckee ) there are pictures of one of the early switchers being taken up the Geiger grade behind a mule team.

A little while ago a Large Loco was repositioned in a park ((Denver IIRC) using a multi wheel transport flat

1) they did that also during the building of the Transcon (especially while the CP were trying to finish Summit Tunnel).

2)Ah, yes, the moving of 4023 in Omaha, NE.
 
Back
Top