Question: Regarding Rolling Stock and Bearings

[Kuckoo]

Was it ever normal for freight trains to consist of rolling stock that had a mixture of both plain and roller bearings? Especially manifests with their variety, but also units as well?

I'm building a freight timetable for the Monon route (70s era) using all of the recently uploaded NAVS freeware rolling stock, and many of Tyler Bundy's 3D cab locomotives. I've only been using roller bearing stock so far, and I've noticed there were a couple of variants of NAVS boxcars that I haven't used because those only come with plain bearings.

Thank you.

[rdayt]

Friction bearings were gone by the 70s.
You may have been able to catch some on restricted speed MOW equipment but not on any mainline freight trains.

Randy

[PerryPlatypus]

Friction bearings were gone by the 70s.
You may have been able to catch some on restricted speed MOW equipment but not on any mainline freight trains.

Randy

SP unit sugar beet trains of wood cars with plain bearings ran up until about 1993.

[Kuckoo]

Friction bearings were gone by the 70s.
You may have been able to catch some on restricted speed MOW equipment but not on any mainline freight trains.

Randy

Thanks. Figured that by the 1970s the lack of any footage or discussion about the crew greasing bearings on mainline freight was indicative of this.

[eolesen]

Cars with friction bearings couldn't be interchanged after 1994, but there was nothing preventing their use for online-only service.

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[charland]

Keep in mind that a lot of older friction bearing cars kept their trucks with journals but were refitted with roller bearings.

Paul :-)

[PerryPlatypus]

Cars with friction bearings couldn't be interchanged after 1994, but there was nothing preventing their use for online-only service.

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Good point. In North Idaho, the St. Maries River Railroad was using a massive fleet of friction bearing ex-Milwaukee Road log bunks in captive service up until the end of log train service around 2008/2009.

[R. Steele]

Okay, maybe a couple of questions have bearing here ( pun groaning totally acceptable )....

First -- I've read here and at other forums, and discussion groups, that friction bearings do not exist. I have heard that specific term applied to certain types of bearings since I was a kid, it seems that it does properly apply to a specific type of bearing for railcars and locomotives. What gives?

Second -- Journal bearings seems strange to me, since all bearings ride in the journal?

[PerryPlatypus]

Okay, maybe a couple of questions have bearing here ( pun groaning totally acceptable )....

First -- I've read here and at other forums, and discussion groups, that friction bearings do not exist. I have heard that specific term applied to certain types of bearings since I was a kid, it seems that it does properly apply to a specific type of bearing for railcars and locomotives. What gives?

Second -- Journal bearings seems strange to me, since all bearings ride in the journal?

Gerry,

I had only ever heard "friction bearings" most of my life. Turns out the actual correct term is plain bearing. "Friction bearings" was supposedly a term coined by the roller bearing manufacturers as a way of making the plain bearings sound inferior (i.e. they cause "more friction"). Have not normally heard the term "journal bearing", but I'm guessing it is another term for a plain bearing...

[Kuckoo]

Keep in mind that a lot of older friction bearing cars kept their trucks with journals but were refitted with roller bearings.

Paul :-)

Are those the plain bearing trucks with the caps removed from the journal housings?

I'm looking at the NAVS rolling stock in TSRE and some of the plain bearing trucks have capped journal housings, while others do not.