Help! I am in a position where I need to estimate the weight of an arch bar truck, made about 1890 for shipping purposes. Can anyone give me an estimate of the weight of a single 33" standard gauge wheel and axle set, or tell me where I can find it? I am going to make a guess that the frame and bolster probably do not weigh as much as a single wheel set, so that the maximum weight of the truck will be about the same as three wheelsets, but I have to start somewhere.

Thanks!

The 1922 Car Builder's Cyclopedia had the ARA standards for these things, and since I have the CD version on my computer here at work, here's some info:

33" cast iron wheels were specified by the weight of each wheel. Standard weights were 650, 700, 750, and 850 pounds EACH. The 850 pound wheel may be a 36" wheel, I'm not sure.

Axles were specified as A, B, C, etc by load carrying capacity. I couldn't find weights, but you should be able to figure that from the volume. Here are the journal size, length, and AVERAGE diameter for the smallest three:

A....3 3/4 x 7....4-7/8 dia. x 6'-11 1/4" long
B....4 1/4 x 8....5 7/16 dia. x 7'-0 1/4" long
C....5 x 9.........6 3/16 dia. x 7'-2 1/2" long

I used the max. diameter EXCLUDING the wheel seat for the diameter; it appears to be about the average diameter, or a bit larger. 500 pounds per cu. ft. or .290 pound per cu. in. ought to be close enough for a conversion factor.

Dennis,

Thank you very much! I am not on the actual site where the trucks are, but from this I can get that each wheel set will weigh between 2000 and 2200# When I get there on Saturday, then I can compute the remaining volume of each truck, bolster, etc, but I now know that each will weigh in at around 3 tons, and that is a good start.

Everett Lueck

Looking at the Interchange Rules Office Manual a 5 X 9 axle weighs 673 pounds (job code 3270) and a one wear 33" steel wheel weighs 678 pounds (job code 3022).