05-04-2010, 11:31 AM
Yehhh, okay. That makes sense. Now that I go back and look at where they are located again, they are all placed before sharper curves.
Now that you guys helped me find out what it was and what it was called, I was able to find a lot more information.
On this guys site, ( <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://cprr.org/Museum/Rail_Wear_Johnson/index.html">http://cprr.org/Museum/Rail_Wear_Johnson/index.html</a><!-- m --> ) there is an article by Travis S. Johnson that elaborates and then leads into the rail greasers. He explains it quite clearly that "Unlike automobiles that use differentials to allow the right wheel to turn at a different speed then the left one, railroad wheels are connected by a rather substantial solid axel. Therefore the outside wheel must travel farther than the inside wheel. Since they are solidly connected, the inside wheel spins when rounding a curve." He then gives a link to a very nice closeup of the greaser being described.
![[Image: image.php?mode=medium&album_id=98&image_id=2494]](http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/gallery/image.php?mode=medium&album_id=98&image_id=2494)
I looked all over Youtube but couldn't find a video of one in action. Might be kind of hard to see I guess if it takes place in between the rails as the train goes by.
Now that you guys helped me find out what it was and what it was called, I was able to find a lot more information.
On this guys site, ( <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://cprr.org/Museum/Rail_Wear_Johnson/index.html">http://cprr.org/Museum/Rail_Wear_Johnson/index.html</a><!-- m --> ) there is an article by Travis S. Johnson that elaborates and then leads into the rail greasers. He explains it quite clearly that "Unlike automobiles that use differentials to allow the right wheel to turn at a different speed then the left one, railroad wheels are connected by a rather substantial solid axel. Therefore the outside wheel must travel farther than the inside wheel. Since they are solidly connected, the inside wheel spins when rounding a curve." He then gives a link to a very nice closeup of the greaser being described.
I looked all over Youtube but couldn't find a video of one in action. Might be kind of hard to see I guess if it takes place in between the rails as the train goes by.