Ride Quality on Amtrak's Cars

[WhoozOn1st]

oh so they dont go flat in the classic sense more like the wheel looses shape after it has been on the tracks to long

It's not like a flat tire on an automobile, no.

 

[transit54]

oh so they dont go flat in the classic sense more like the wheel looses shape after it has been on the tracks to long

Exactly. Usually flat wheels, as I've heard about them, are caused as a result of braking. For instance, the engineer puts the train into emergency because there's something in the tracks ahead (a car, a person, etc) and the wheels to lock up and grind against the rails causing flat spots on them. I recall this was a problem recently on the LIRR when they received new cars that would automatically apply the brakes when it felt a certain amount of wheel slip. In the fall, leaves would cover the tracks and leave a greasy residue, causing wheel slip, brake applications, and a number of wheels that needed to be constantly machined to remove the flat spots.

 

[WhoozOn1st]

Bad wheels at Chicago:

Bad Wheels

 

[Long Train Runnin']

oh so they dont go flat in the classic sense more like the wheel looses shape after it has been on the tracks to long

Exactly. Usually flat wheels, as I've heard about them, are caused as a result of braking. For instance, the engineer puts the train into emergency because there's something in the tracks ahead (a car, a person, etc) and the wheels to lock up and grind against the rails causing flat spots on them. I recall this was a problem recently on the LIRR when they received new cars that would automatically apply the brakes when it felt a certain amount of wheel slip. In the fall, leaves would cover the tracks and leave a greasy residue, causing wheel slip, brake applications, and a number of wheels that needed to be constantly machined to remove the flat spots.

Bad wheels at Chicago:
Bad Wheels

thanks guys lol learn something new everyday looks like i am lucky never to have encountered such a problem

 

[jackal]

oh so they dont go flat in the classic sense more like the wheel looses shape after it has been on the tracks to long

Exactly. Usually flat wheels, as I've heard about them, are caused as a result of braking. For instance, the engineer puts the train into emergency because there's something in the tracks ahead (a car, a person, etc) and the wheels to lock up and grind against the rails causing flat spots on them. I recall this was a problem recently on the LIRR when they received new cars that would automatically apply the brakes when it felt a certain amount of wheel slip. In the fall, leaves would cover the tracks and leave a greasy residue, causing wheel slip, brake applications, and a number of wheels that needed to be constantly machined to remove the flat spots.

rnizlek's right--it's a braking thing. More likely to happen with handbrakes, though, than even an emergency application (air brakes don't quite have the strength to lock a car's wheels unless weather conditions are causing slippery track or the car is light and unloaded).

I got chewed out by a conductor once for forgetting to kick a handbrake on an unloaded coal hopper when we shoved it a good mile through from the coal plant to the yard. Told me I was lucky the railroad didn't send me the bill for the wheel truing shop's work...