Hello,
I would like to know if friction (brass/solid) bearings are banned from interchange service in the case of historic passenger equipment, such as a former California Zephyr dome or private cars.
I would think that the problems with friction bearings would make them illegal on all Class 1 mainline tracks, and only operable on shortline or tourist lines ... Conrail phased them out in 2005 for ore gennies
Most modern streamlined cars have roller bearings....the Nebraska Zephyr was built with all roller bearing cars. Journal bearings were last use in Freight cars, but rarely on passenger cars after the 1930's.
I think that they are technically allowed by the FRA in interchange service or operating anywhere but most Class 1's won't allow them on their trackage due to how problematic they are.
