• CSX Locomotive Trucks?

  • General discussion about locomotives, rolling stock, and equipment
General discussion about locomotives, rolling stock, and equipment

Moderator: John_Perkowski

  by DimensionPizza
 
I've seen these on CSX locomotives, as well as a handful of Kansas City Southerns but what are they called?

Picture
truck.jpg
I know these ones are called Hi-Ad (High Adhesion) Trucks-
High Adhesion Trucks.jpg
but I don't know what the other one is. Help?
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  by Allen Hazen
 
The (General Electric) Hi-Ad truck is also nicknamed -- among railfans -- the "Roller Blades" truck. I think some of the engineering for it was done by GE in collaboration with (or maybe even bought by GE from) Krupp in Germany. A lightweight version, with welded instead of cast frames, is used on several non-North American GE locomotives: some in Australia, and also the AC38 units used by Chinese railroads on the line to Tibet.

The other is (one of at least two versions of) the GE radial or steerable truck. EMD apparently got a radial truck into service first (on the SD70MAC), and GE then had to design something that had the same function, but was mechanically different enough from EMD's HTCR truck to not infringe on the patent. This design of truck is used on most of CSX's AC-motored GE locomotives (after the first 180 or so AC44CW -- the radial truck option was introduced after the start of AC44CW production) and many, though not all, of Canadian Pacific's GE locomotives. Apparently the radial truck needs a bit more maintenance than the conventional one (not surprising, given its greater mechanical complexity), and most railroads seem to have decided that the added cost isn't justified by its advantages (slightly better adhesion, and maybe a bit less damage to the track structure, on curves). KCS has at least some radial trucks on its big AC-motored GE locomotives, but a different design.
  by DimensionPizza
 
Thank you! :-)
  by Allen Hazen
 
Oops! My memory seems to had failed me. GE has used two visually different "steerable" (=radial) truck designs on its AC locomotives. The one in your picture (on a CSX locomotive) is by far the more common. I ***thought*** I remembered seeing a photo of a KCS AC44 with the other design, but all the photos I have found in the past few days of steerable truck equipped KCS GE locomotives have had the design used on CSX locomotives. I now am not sure who has used the other design: maybe a Mexican railroad. Sorry.
--
But you have piqued my curiosity. I am about to start a string "Steerable truck variants" on the Gailroad.net GE forum to ask about this.
  by DimensionPizza
 
Allen Hazen wrote:Oops! My memory seems to had failed me. GE has used two visually different "steerable" (=radial) truck designs on its AC locomotives. The one in your picture (on a CSX locomotive) is by far the more common. I ***thought*** I remembered seeing a photo of a KCS AC44 with the other design, but all the photos I have found in the past few days of steerable truck equipped KCS GE locomotives have had the design used on CSX locomotives. I now am not sure who has used the other design: maybe a Mexican railroad. Sorry.
--
But you have piqued my curiosity. I am about to start a string "Steerable truck variants" on the Gailroad.net GE forum to ask about this.
I saw the other variety on a CSX CW44AC today at Howell Yard.