IRFCA Mailing List Archive


Messages 6321 - 6340

From: Jayant S <>

Subject: Wheel Queries

Date: 18 May 1999 22:13:22 -0500


<A HREF="http://www.talgo.com/talgopen/talpei.htm">http://www.talgo.com/talgopen/talpei.htm</A>

Now I am REALLY curious. This web page
says that Talgo wheels are independent,
and stay parallel to the track because
of another mechanism altogether.

Which leads me to ask another technical
question: does the wheel profile on
conventional wheelsets vary with changes
in the track gauge ?

I was reading that the suspension on
IR passenger stock is of the Swiss
Schileren (sp ?) type, which was also
seen on the BR Midland Pullman diesel
train sets many years ago. it this
suspension used anywhere else in the
world ?

Where does RDSO carry out track testing ?
Is this only on IR sections or do they
also have a test track of their own ?

-Jayant S-

From: Anne Ogborn <>

Subject: Re: Wheel Queries

Date: 18 May 1999 23:03:58 -0500


> Which leads me to ask another technical
> question: does the wheel profile on
> conventional wheelsets vary with changes
> in the track gauge ?
>

Yes, it does. The width of the treads and the
width of flangeways have to be coordinated with
each other. And while narrower gauges generally
have wider treads with respect to the gauge
(the wheels are "fatter"), in an absolute sense
they get narrower.

But your question was, I guess, more about tread taper
angles, which I always assumed were a wheelset centering
feature.
Oddly, I found this in the NMRA standards (RP-25) for
wheels on model railroads:

Tread Taper is not required, but 1 degree to 3 degree mold release
draft is allowed. Note that NEW prototype wheels include a taper in
anticipation of wear. WORN wheels show a reverse taper. Model
wheels are often subject to a buildup of track 'dirt' that adds an
effective taper.

I was amused by the last sentence - these standards were written before
it was common to clean freight car wheels on model RRs.

For the non-modellers, 'prototype' is of course the real railroads.

I do know that prototype wheels develop something called a false flange
when they wear - a "lip" on the outside of the wheel where it's worn
less
than in the center of the tread. This causes the car to ride rough over
points.

From: Jayant S <>

Subject: Re: Wheel Queries

Date: 18 May 1999 23:36:51 -0500


Annie wrote:
> But your question was, I guess, more about tread taper
> angles, which I always assumed were a wheelset centering
> feature.
That's what I too gathered from several sources: that the
solid axle contributes to centering the wheelset on the
rails, and the flanges do not usually touch the railhead
at all. Which is why the Talgo wheelset baffles me, as
there is no solid axle. Considering it is designed for
hilly terrain running, how do they keep the flanges
off the railhead ?

> Tread Taper is not required, but 1 degree to 3 degree mold release
> draft is allowed.
Model train axles I have seen are split and the wheels can
rotate individually, presumable because the sharp curves
on model track would cause wheelslip with solid axles even
with profile compensation. I presume the flanges on RTR
stock are oversize as they are required for guidance on
model trains unlike the prototype ? And what happens with
finescale wheel standards where flanges are small ? Do
the curve radii have to be much larger ?

> I do know that prototype wheels develop something called a false
flange
> when they wear - a "lip" on the outside of the wheel where it's worn
less
> than in the center of the tread. This causes the car to ride rough
over
> points.
Was happening to DHR stock in the 1970's. Even the rails were
wearing out badly, showing signs of burning on sharp curves
caused by slipping wheels.

--
JS
--

From: Jayant S <>

Subject: Train derailment

Date: 19 May 1999 00:30:53 -0500


<A HREF="http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/may/18train.htm">http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/may/18train.htm</A>


3 killed, 15 injured as train derails in Bengal

Three people were killed and 15 injured when 10
coaches of the Dibrugarh-bound Brahmaputra Mail
from Delhi derailed between Dhupgiri and
Altargram in North Bengal's Jalpaiguri district early Tuesday
morning.

Five of the derailed coaches capsized blocking traffic. A relief
train has been rushed to the site with medicines, doctors and senior
railway officials.

The injured have been hospitalised in Jalpaiguri.

The commissioner of railway safety will conduct an inquiry into
the mishap. Traffic on the affected route is expected to be
normalised by Wednesday morning.

Union Railway Minister Nitish Kumar, meanwhile, expressed
"shock and sorrow" over the accident. He asked the officials
concerned to render all assistance to the affected.

UNI

From: Harsh Vardhan <>

Subject: FAQ - Trivia Update.

Date: 19 May 1999 01:15:21 -0500


Shortest station name: Ib, near Jharsuguda on the South Eastern Railway. Some station names with three letters are Ait (between Jhansi and Kanpur), Ara (between Mughalsarai and Patna), Bad (near Mathura), Bir (between Khandwa and Itarsi) and Mau (between Varanasi and Gorakhpur).
 
Bad between Agra and Mathura is spelled `Baad'. Over the years the mistake of spelling it `Bad' has been carried on by CR TTs. But I've seen it on the station plaque as `Baad' on numerous occasions. The latest IR mag also has an article in the latest issue on C&W depot, Baad.
 
However three letter stations have many more examples like Ata, Kem, Pen etc on CR itself.
 
 
Longest non-stop run (distance): [3/99] The August Kranti Rajdhani express has the longest continuous run IR. It covers the 528 km Vadodara - Kota section in about 6.5 hours with an impressive average speed of about 81 km/h.
 
I thought Ratlam is is technical stop. My AKR stopped there for about 10 min. in Mar '98. I dont have a WR WTT. Pls. crosscheck.
 
 
Longest passenger train (number of coaches) [5/99] There are several passenger trains which are run regularly with 24-coach rakes, including the Karnataka, Gomti, Prayagraj, and Purushottam Expresses; on occasion they may have additional coaches for railway staff or VIP guests. There do not seem to be any longer passenger trains.
 
Pls add Tamilnadu and G.T. Exp. to the above list.
 
 
Westernmost station: Dwarka. This is on a line which terminates at Okha. However, a new line is being built from Bhuj to Naliya, which would become the westernmost station. As this will be a metre gauge line, Dwarka will remain the westernmost broad gauge station.
 
Naliya exists for many years now, with its one daily train from Bhuj, which makes it the westernmost. How does BG/MG come into play here? Even on Okha line, Varvala is further west to Dwarka from where the line bends north-west. But this station pales into insignificance because of the religious popularity of the latter.
 
 
Highest railway station: Ghoom on the DHR, at ~2200 meters. The highest BG station is probably Shimliguda at 998m. This station is on the Visakhapatnam - Kirandul line (SER).
 
Ghoom is exactly 7407 Ft. which makes it 2257.65 M(highest point on 2'0" as wel as overall).
Shimliguda is certainly(not probably) the highest point on BG.
Highest point on 2'6" is Simla at 2075 M.
Highest point on Metre Gauge is Conoor(or is it Ooty) at above 6000 Ft.(exact not known).
 
Steepest inclines: On BG routes, probably some of the ghat sections. The Bhore ghat on the Mumbai-Pune route has inclines of 1 in 33, and near Palasdhari there is a section of track with a 1 in 22 incline.

On MG, probably the Ooty rack railway.

I believe Bhor Ghat has a ruing gradient of 1:37

On MG NMR is certainly the steepest with ruling gradient of 1:12.28 between Conoor and Kallar.


Q. What's the highest number of lines converging at a single junction?



Mathura actually has seven routes radiating. To Agra, Bharatpur, Delhi, Alwar, Hathras, Vrindavan and Achnera. Bhuteshwar is within Mathura township and hence can be counted as Mathura only. Moreover Bhuteshwar is not a Junction and trains are controlled by Mathura only.


Delhi has six routes(seven if you count the two seperate double lines to Ghaziabad, meeting at Sahibabad outside Delhi and eight if you cout the parallel BG/MG lines upto Rewari).


Rewari also has five(Delhi, Alwar, Hissar, Ringus, Loharu), six if you count parallel BG/MG seperately.


Ahemedabad too has 5/6.


Lucknow also has seperate BG and MG stations.


A station inside a station On the Delhi-Kanpur route at the Hathras Junction station, one can observe the MG line crossing the main BG line at right angles in the same premises. However the MG station is called Hathras Road even though it is inside the yard of Hathras Junction, which is the BG station. To make things more complicated, the town of Hathras is nowhere near Hathras Junction. (Furthermore, there is also a Hathras Town on MG and a Hathras Qila on BG.)

Station name is Hathras City and not Hathras Town. Hathras Quila is 10 Km south of Hathras Jn. Hathras City is 9 Km west of Hathras Road.

Two gauges of track with a station for only one of them On the Delhi-Madras route one can observe the NG station of Chanda Fort which is adjacent to the main BG line. However, there is no BG station there. Therefore a passenger wishing to transfer between BG and NG has to use road transport between the stations of Chanda Fort and the nearest BG station, Chandrapur.

That's not unusual. There are many examples of this including those on Bombay and Madras suburban section.

New Jalpaiguri is an interesting station on NFR because it has 3 gauges present at the same place: BG, MG, and NG (2'0"). The BG trunk route of NFR from Malda town to Guwahati and onwards to Dibrugarh runs through NJP. This station has a huge marshalling yard and also some special IndianOil and FCI sidings. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway originates from here.

NJP is the only station at present with three gauges. All others have ceased to exist either due to conversion or due to abandoning of the line.



 

From: Harsh Vardhan <>

Subject: Re: Electric Double-heading ?

Date: 19 May 1999 01:30:54 -0500




>Just wondering, are any electric
>passenger trains on IR worked
>double-headed ?
>Saw the Mumbai-Pune Sinhagadh come
>in the other day with double
>WCAM3 power, possibly due to
>a failed unit though.


Not requied really. A single universal electric loco can easily haul the
longest passenger trains. At best what may suffer are the starting
torque
and maximum speed.

I have seen(photographed) a nondescript train like Agra Delhi passenger
with
3 powers in lead(WAM4 + WAG2 + WAG5) and all with panto up but certainly
the
latter ones were not energised.

During track trials before the Bhopal Shatbdi was launched, Taj Exp.
used to
be hauled by two WAM 4Ps(or WAP 1s). I don't know the significance but I
was
told(unofficially) that they were running the Taj at 120-130 Kmph?!!?
Now it
is back to a single WAM 4P with 17-18 coaches.

Harsh

From: John Lacey <>

Subject: DD and other carriages

Date: 19 May 1999 02:16:22 -0500


Just a brief addition to former DD operations:
In late January 1983 two were in use on 2Up Gujarat Mail ex Ahmedabad.

Does anyone know what happened to the Air Conditioned First Class Chair
Car which used to run on the Taj Express in the 1980s?

John

From: John Lacey <>

Subject: long distance MG

Date: 19 May 1999 02:30:33 -0500


In the November 1980 timetable 17/18 Vaishali Exp is shown as operaing
Siliguri-Kasganj, 1147 kms, rather than to/from Agra ( an extra 167
kms).
In 1981 17/18 was cut back to Siliguri-Barauni while 15/16
Gauhati-Varanasi was introduced.

John

From: Harsh Vardhan <>

Subject: Re: MG double tracking ?

Date: 19 May 1999 02:47:07 -0500




>On Delhi-Rewari section, double line was only till Garhi Harsaru Jn.

No, the full section was double metre gauge for many years. It was only
during conversion 4-5 years back that one line was replaced by BG.

>Lucknow - Kanpur used to have one MG line and one BG line about 10-15
>years ago. I don't know if it had both MG lines even earlier.
>Now, both lines are BG.


Yes, you're right here. Iam sorry for my mistake. Between Lucknow -
Kanpur,
NER used to operate the MG line as a part of Agra - Guwahati trunk route
plus some suburban services including rail buses.
Now after BG doubling, it is purely a NR line.

Agra Fort - Achnera was also double MG till one line got converted to
BG.

Harsh

From: Deepak Sapra <>

Subject: unsubscribe

Date: 19 May 1999 03:00:24 -0500


unsubscribe



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From: Apurva Bahadur <>

Subject: Re: Electric Double-heading ?

Date: 19 May 1999 06:15:27 -0500


> I have seen(photographed) a nondescript train like Agra Delhi
passenger with
> 3 powers in lead(WAM4 + WAG2 + WAG5) and all with panto up but
certainly the
> latter ones were not energised.

Even on the Mumbai Pune sector we used to find two (but not MUed) live
locos on
a B grade train, this was used to bring a loco in the same path. This
locos were
used to haul the once a week expresses like Gandhidham - Trivandrum ,
Rajkot -
Trivandrum etc which have now started to bypass Pune using the Konkan
Railway.
Apart from working two locos in a path, the drivers do not have to be
paid full
wages for bringing a light loco but only half the wages for working
'spare' or
'pilot'. These scenes are rare today. However I guess you will see the
the
double header only on B trains whose timings are somewhat flexible.

If I remember correctly such live (but unmanned) locos had no MU cables
but had
the brake hoses and the air hoses (WCG 2s) were connected. However I
have also
seen WCM2s and WCM 4s being hauled live but unmanned with trains like
Singahad
Exp and Deccan Express.

The 329 Dn. Pune - Wadi passenger in the morning regularly carries dead
or
idling WDM 2s and WDS 6s from Pune to Daund or Solapur to work trains
from DD or
SUR or to do shunting there. The 1602 Up Nanded - Manmad - Daund - Pune
passenger often brings back similar locos attached to the rake from
Daund.

Apurva

From: John Lacey <>

Subject: Re: FAQ - Trivia Update.

Date: 19 May 1999 06:21:13 -0500


Re:
Ghoom is exactly 7407 Ft. which makes it 2257.65 M(highest point on 2'0"
as wel as overall).
Shimliguda is certainly(not probably) the highest point on BG.
Highest point on 2'6" is Simla at 2075 M.
Highest point on Metre Gauge is Conoor(or is it Ooty) at above 6000
Ft.(exact not known).

John Marshall in Rail Facts and Feats (1974) gives the Nilgiris summit
as 7275 ft. I suspect this is at or near the Fernhill tunnel as the line
falls thence to Ooty.

Cheers
John
 

From: Vijay Balasubramanian <>

Subject: Re: FAQ - Trivia Update.

Date: 19 May 1999 07:43:45 -0500




>From: "Harsh Vardhan" <champa@del3.email
>Reply-To: "Harsh Vardhan" <hvc@vsnl.email
>To: "Indian Railway Fan Club Association" <irfca@cs.email
>"S Pai" <spai@aya.email "S Pai"
><s_pai@bigfoot.email
>Subject: FAQ - Trivia Update.
>Date: Wed, 19 May 1999 13:45:21 +0530
>
>a.. Shortest station name: Ib, near Jharsuguda on the South Eastern
>Railway. Some station names with three letters are Ait (between Jhansi
and
>Kanpur), Ara (between Mughalsarai and Patna), Bad (near Mathura), Bir
>(between Khandwa and Itarsi) and Mau (between Varanasi and Gorakhpur).
>
>Bad between Agra and Mathura is spelled `Baad'. Over the years the
mistake
>of spelling it `Bad' has been carried on by CR TTs. But I've seen it on
the
>station plaque as `Baad' on numerous occasions. The latest IR mag also
has
>an article in the latest issue on C&W depot, Baad.

That's interesting. I did not realize that this was misspelled.


>Longest non-stop run (distance): [3/99] The August Kranti Rajdhani
express
>has the longest continuous run IR. It covers the 528 km Vadodara - Kota

>section in about 6.5 hours with an impressive average speed of about 81

>km/h.
>
>I thought Ratlam is is technical stop. My AKR stopped there for about
10
>min. in Mar '98. I dont have a WR WTT. Pls. crosscheck.
>

Raltam is not a techincal halt - the AKR skips it as per my WR WTT.
Even my
AK exp. halted there for about 8 mts. (much to my chagrin as I was
looking
forward to crusing through this station) in Aug. '95.




>Q. What's the highest number of lines converging at a single junction?
>
>Mathura actually has seven routes radiating. To Agra, Bharatpur, Delhi,

>Alwar, Hathras, Vrindavan and Achnera. Bhuteshwar is within Mathura
>township and hence can be counted as Mathura only. Moreover Bhuteshwar
is
>not a Junction and trains are controlled by Mathura only.

Thanks for the info.


>Delhi has six routes(seven if you count the two seperate double lines
to
>Ghaziabad, meeting at Sahibabad outside Delhi and eight if you cout the

>parallel BG/MG lines upto Rewari).

I looked at the Bradshaw as well as the NR map (from the IR website).
Here
is the scenario for Delhi -
line to Delhi Shahdara and onto Saharanpur/Ghaziabad,
line to New Delhi via Sadar Bazar and onto Hazrat Nizamuddin
line to Panipat via Sadar Bazar
line to Rohtak via Sadar Bazar
parallel BG-MG line to Rewari via Sadar Bazaar

Since Sadar Bazaar is not listed as a Jn. we can use Harsh's argument to
say
that there are 5 lines from Delhi and 6 if we count parallel MG-BG as
two.
Now the map also shows a loop (circular rly.?) as separating from the
Rewari
line (near Shakurbasti?) and joining the southbound line between
Nizamuddin
and Tughlakabad. Should we count this line for Delhi as well?


>Ahemedabad too has 5/6.

Ahmadabad has 3/4.
Line to Vadodara
Parallel BG-MG line to Sabarmati Jn. and then to Viramgam (BG), Mahesana

(MG-BG), Botad (MG), Gandhinagar Capital (BG)
Line to Himatnagar (MG)
Since Sabarmati is a separate junction, we should not count these lines
for
Ahmadabad.


In fact, Sabarmati has 5/7
BG-MG line to Ahmadabad
BG-MG line to Mahesana (via Kali Road)
MG line to Botad (via Kali Road)
BG line to Viramgam (via Chandlodiya)
BG line to Gandhinagar Capital (via Chandlodiya)
Since Kali Rd. and Chandlodiya are not junctions, we could include these

lines for Sabarmati. If we count the BG-MG parallel line towards
Mahesana
and ADI as four separate lines, then the figure jumps to 7.


Vijay


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From: Dr. S. Parthasarathy <>

Subject: WCRR'99, Japan

Date: 19 May 1999 08:15:09 -0500


The next World Congress of Railway Research (WCRR'99) will be held in
Tokyo in October 1999. I was wondering if anybody in this mailing list
has submitted any paper concerning Indian Railways. If so, can we have
the details, and possibly some way to download an electronic copy of the
same ?

I remember in the last WCRR there was some very good paper by people
from Konkan Railways.

...partha

From: Shankar <>

Subject: Re: long distance MG

Date: 19 May 1999 10:50:05 -0500


Hello,
To my knowledge, the present 2553/2554 Vaishali Express is a bg
superfast between New Delhi and Barauni.
This must be a new train after the earlier mg one you refer to was
scrapped.
Best regards.
Shankar


John Lacey wrote:
>
> In the November 1980 timetable 17/18 Vaishali Exp is shown as operaing
> Siliguri-Kasganj, 1147 kms, rather than to/from Agra ( an extra 167
> kms).
> In 1981 17/18 was cut back to Siliguri-Barauni while 15/16
> Gauhati-Varanasi was introduced.
>
> John

From: CARLOSFINK <>

Subject: (no subject)

Date: 19 May 1999 12:44:28 -0500


unsubscribe

From: Mike Brooker <>

Subject: Re: Train derailment

Date: 19 May 1999 18:54:29 -0500


>
> Union Railway Minister Nitish Kumar, meanwhile, expressed
> "shock and sorrow" over the accident. He asked the officials
> concerned to render all assistance to the affected.
>
Doesn't he always do that when folks are killed on IR? Expresses "shock
and
sorrow" and then does nothing, except perhaps go and watch the World Cup
cricket match. What are Sri Kumar's qualifications for serving as
India's
Railway Minister? Does he actually know something about railways or is
this
post just a political plum? I mean, did he get the job because of years
of
service in IR, or as a reward for years of faithful service to the
Bharatiya
Janata Party?

just curious... :)


********************************************************************
Mike Brooker
99 Wychcrest Ave.,
Toronto, ON M6G 3X8
CANADA
(416) 536-7406
********************************************************************

From: Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E, Heath <>

Subject: Re: Wheel Queries

Date: 19 May 1999 19:18:17 -0500


Dear Jayant,
Re the query about wheels. The main thing to remember is that
full-size (12":1ft scale) wheels depend on the WHEEL PROFILE to stay on
the
rail. The axle actually doesn't matter much, so long as the wheels are
held
parallel to the rails and the right distance apart.
Annie is wrong, I'm afraid, in generalising from the US NMRA
standards for models, because those standards are NOT based on actual
full-size practice.
Both the BS276A (and later) and the equivalent AAR profiles have
coning on the wheel tread, normally at a 1 in 20 angle. The flange is
rounded both back and front, and a generous curved fillet where the
flange
meets the tread also plays an important part in keeping the wheel on the
track. What happens is that as a wheelset (axle or no!) moves along the
rail, it "hunts" slightly from side to side. As a flange gets closer to
the
rail on its side, the effective diameter of the wheel increases, due to
the
coning and the fillet. That tends to push the wheel away from the rail,
centring it. If the track is curved, the larger external diameter
performs
the function of a differential, so that the outer wheel rides higher on
the
rail, with a greater effective diameter, and traverses more rail for
each
turn. That's one reason why, on very sharp curves, you get flange squeal
--
the outer flange is very close to the rail, even rubbing on it, and the
wheel may also be slipping. Naturally, the geometry of axles in fixed
wheelbases also pushes wheels against curved rails rail, and at an
angle, so
that's where the worst squeal comes from. It you get a chance, have a
look
at industrial curves or a tramway, and note how the flanges actually cut
away the rail on the sharpest curves.
One of the best expositions of this I have seen was in -- of all
things -- the Model Railway Constructor in 1967, in the "Protofour"
articles.
The other thing is about wheel profiles for narrow gauge, etc.
Annie is
quite right in saying that the wheel is wider relative to the gauge, and
that narrow gauge wheels are often narrower. Indian railways specify a 5
inch wheel for BG, widening to 6 inches for steam locomotive tyres (does
anyone know if diseasels and electrics have wider tyres?) The MG tyre
width
is 4-1/2 inches, applying to locos and stock, while 2ft 6in NG had 4-1/2
inch tyres on locomotives, but 4-1/4 inch on stock. Tyre width here
refers
to width over tye and flange. Ratios: BG: 11:1; MG: 8.74:1; NG: 6.93:1.
So
the smaller gauges had wider tyres, pro-rata. Incidentally, crossing
flangeways were also narrower for the smaller gauges, by fairly small
amounts reflecting their narrower flanges. (BG standard is 44mm).
Re your query on toy train wheels and flanges -- yes, they are
overscale, both in wheel width and flange depth, in order to negotiate
"tramway" curves. Interestingly, in view of what we now know, many are a
"bad" profile, even when grossly overscale. For example, the German firm
Marklin used to use a coned wheel with a sharply tapered, knife-edge
flange,
just made for clambering off the rail at rough spots. The US NMRA's RP25
profile is vastly better, with rounded flanges and a good fillet where
tread
meets flange. Most examples I have seen have some taper on the tread,
too.
And yes, us fine-scale modellers have to use wider radius curves, though
it's not as bad as you might think. One famous P4 exhibition layout in
Britain went down to 3ft 6in radius; I find that by about 4ft I'm
starting
to carve off and thin down things under the engines rather drastically,
especially where they hang down near bogies and stuff. But such sharp
radii
look terrible anyway, and are best kept out of public view! It you have
to
use 18 inch radius, the best bet is a small tramway or industrial
layout,
with 0-4-0T (or Bo) locos and four-wheel stock. They won't give you
away!
Even the DHR's sharpest curve (59ft) comes out to 9 inches radius in 4mm
scale. Main line curves are more like 20ft.
By the way, the DHR tried out "loose" wheels in the very early
days,
and again on an experimental diesel in 1941, but they were not
perpetuated.
The Schlieren bogie (note spelling -- it's the town in which
Swiss
Car and Elevator Co. have their works) has been extensively used outside
India, especially in Switzerland. You can often see it in photos of
Swiss
stock in the 1930s; Schlieren had been selling their combination of
integral
coach and bogie for quite some years before IR approached them. (In
fact, IR
knew of them back in the 1930s, and had considered their design then).
The
leaf-spring variety, recognisable by the long spring under the bolster,
came
to India with the prototype Schlieren cars in 1954-5, and went under
many of
the earlier ICF coaches. I'm not sure how much input the Swiss had into
the
later "all-coil" design, though. Certainly, IR documentation makes it
seem
like an indigenous development!
I hope that helps!
Cheers
Ken Walker

-----Original Message-----
From: Jayant S <sank@telco.email
To: IR List <irfca@cs.email
Date: Wednesday, 19 May 1999 4:58
Subject: Re: Wheel Queries


>Annie wrote:
>> But your question was, I guess, more about tread taper
>> angles, which I always assumed were a wheelset centering
>> feature.
>That's what I too gathered from several sources: that the
>solid axle contributes to centering the wheelset on the
>rails, and the flanges do not usually touch the railhead
>at all. Which is why the Talgo wheelset baffles me, as
>there is no solid axle. Considering it is designed for
>hilly terrain running, how do they keep the flanges
>off the railhead ?
>
>> Tread Taper is not required, but 1 degree to 3 degree mold release
>> draft is allowed.
>Model train axles I have seen are split and the wheels can
>rotate individually, presumable because the sharp curves
>on model track would cause wheelslip with solid axles even
>with profile compensation. I presume the flanges on RTR
>stock are oversize as they are required for guidance on
>model trains unlike the prototype ? And what happens with
>finescale wheel standards where flanges are small ? Do
>the curve radii have to be much larger ?
>
>> I do know that prototype wheels develop something called a false
flange
>> when they wear - a "lip" on the outside of the wheel where it's worn
less
>> than in the center of the tread. This causes the car to ride rough
over
>> points.
>Was happening to DHR stock in the 1970's. Even the rails were
>wearing out badly, showing signs of burning on sharp curves
>caused by slipping wheels.
>
>--
>JS
>--
>

From: Dr. K.J. Walker & Mrs. M.E, Heath <>

Subject: Re: Innovation on rails

Date: 19 May 1999 19:26:29 -0500


Dear Shankar,
Just to keep the record straight! The straight section on the
Transcontinental railway is 328 MILES long -- that's 525 km. The
Nullarbor
(= no trees, in Latin) plain is not desert, by the way, but arid
semi-desert, totally unsuitable for human settlement.
Cheers
Ken Walker

-----Original Message-----
From: Shankar <shankie@emirates.email
To: Dr. S. Parthasarathy <m05@anna.email
Cc: irfca@cs.email <irfca@cs.email
Date: Wednesday, 19 May 1999 5:07
Subject: Re: Innovation on rails


>Hello,
>The Lifeline Express is one innovation. The Exhibition on Rails is
>another.In fact, I thought the erstwhile Palace of Wheels was a
terrific
>innovation too: I mean the original mg rake, with cars from the
>erstwhile maharajahs' private railways et al.Too bad it now runs with a
>bg rake with nothing to boast of, except for the through-the-roof
fares.
>One more innovation is on the Kalka-Simla Railway: the railcars: in
>effect, buses converted into rail vehicles. On the conventional stock,
I
>understand the seats can be swivelled round for the return journey.
>
>I used to follow foreign railways closely till I moved out of India.
Now
>that I am in Dubai, I turn more towards the IR: my interest in foreign
>railways has diminished somewhat. (but is by no means finished!)
>
>SOme of the innovations overseas I vaguely remember having read about
>are:
>
>1.A church coach in pre-revolution Russia.In fact the car was complete
>with steeples and and pointed roof!
>2.A step shaped single-car train in Switzerland. The car traverses a
>steep incline of 1 in 8 or something, so the seats (and hence the car)
>are built in a step form, so that the passengers don't imagine they are
>sliding backwards.
>3.While on the subject of inclines, the steam engines of the Mt.
Snowdon
>Railway in the UK have their boilers fitted in an inclined position.The
>idea is, when teh train is climbing, and hence moving angularly, the
>boilers remain in a vertical position!
>4.A train used as a market (fish,meat etc) in Quito in Ecuador.
>5.Heres one from Dr.Walker's own territory:Australia.
>As you know, there is the Nullarbor plain in the Australian desert.The
>rail line there incidentally is DEAD STRAIGHT (though not level) for
295
>(or is it 395?) km at a stretch.
>There is a weekly supermarket train which passes by once a week for the
>benefit of railway officials who live along the line.Popularly known as
>the TEA AND SUGAR TRAIN, it carries a full supply of groceries, eggs
>etc. which the lineside railroad employees can purchase.
>Hows that for innovation?
>Best regards.
>Shankar
>
>Dr. S. Parthasarathy wrote:
>>
>> Our country has the opportunity to innovate. Here is a story about
using
>> railways for one such innovation.
>>
>> >From THE HINDU of May 14th:
>>
>> ***
>> WARANGAL, MAY 13. The Lifeline Express,
>

From: VIRAF P.. MULLA <>

Subject: NG TODAY

Date: 19 May 1999 20:26:17 -0500



Hi Gang,

The National Geograhic are going to show LIFE ON RAILS at 20.30hrs
today.

Have a nice day.

Viraf