07-11-2010, 02:58 PM
pgandw Wrote:With steel needle point axles turning in plastic or metal rigid frames on car trucks, adding weight increases the wear on the needle point bearing surface in the journals. Observe a Athearn car truck after many hours of running - especially if weight has been added to the car. You will see the the needle point has worn the journal, and the wheel set rides higher in the truck than it once did (you can detect this by observing that your couplers are low for no reason, when they were once on spec).
Particularly a problem when running "live" loads in open cars such as coal, like I plan to do. My train lengths will be limited to 15 or so cars, but with live loads will require 3 units to pull... and periodic replacement of the trucks.
-Dave