844 Driver Damage

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3011

According to several posts I've seen in various places, including photos, 844 suffered some flat spots on her drivers in Mount Pleasant.

Anyone have actual info on what happened? I've read tons of speculation and rumors, I'm not interested in that...

elueck · **Posted:** Sun Apr 15, 2012 7:18 pm

There are two short videos that have been posted.

One shows the crew working on the rear driver on the engineers side

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmtSk1i ... ata_player

The second shows a "test run"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EevK_tt ... ata_player

Everything else is as you said, rumor and speculation

Bobharbison · **Joined:** Fri Dec 03, 2004 9:42 pm **Posts:** 3011

One of the photos I saw on Facebook showed them grinding on all four drivers on the right side (four crew members, each grinding on a wheel). So it appears there were flat spots on all eight drivers.

dinwitty · **Joined:** Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:18 pm **Posts:** 2226

you have to remember these drivers have "tires" like a car, but its steel, you can grind them in as noted to re-shape the curl, and you're off and running.

After some run time these tires wear in so they get replaced, its like your flue time.

Brake seize, driver slipping on accelleration can do things like this, its good the crew is there on top of it to square it up right then there than like being on the road in the old days and wait to be back at the shops to service. I go yay for them.

Pegasuspinto · **Joined:** Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:43 am **Posts:** 783

The rumors say they may have enough damage that the trip might be cancelled and they will limp it home. Didn't they just pull the drivers off of 844 the last couple of years and have the tires replaced and/or profiled?

Very sad!

car57 · **Posted:** Mon Apr 16, 2012 1:12 am

It sounds easy grinding flats off by hand ! But sadly thats why lathes do tyre turning, if the flats are that bad thats the only choice, limp home or wheel skates on all wheels !

Mike Pannell

jasonsobczynski · **Posted:** Mon Apr 16, 2012 7:45 am

Folks, you can't just literally grind or "blend" away flat spots, you end up with a wheel that is out of round. There are wheel truing brake shoes both with carbide inserts and some sort of bonded abrasive. Neither of these have much in the way of quality control in maintaining diameter between drivers. I sincerely hope the fra doesn't see this.

whodom · **Posted:** Mon Apr 16, 2012 8:33 am

Jason- I think there's some allowance in the rules for doing temporary repairs so you can get the locomotive to a shop to fix it properly.

I remember a story in Trains magazine many years back (probably a tall tale) about a newly shopped steam locomotive. A hostler was moving it around after leaving the back shop as a preliminary stage in the break-in. Apparently the fresh engine brakes were a mite touchy and shortly after leaving the backshop he accidentally slid the drivers several feet leaving pronounced flat spots on the freshly machined tires.

Figuring he'd get a good chewing out (or worse) the hostler carefully backed the engine while laying sand, stopped, moved the reverser into forward and deliberately started the drivers spinning. Supposedly after a pass or two the flat spots were removed and the hostler avoided getting chewed out.

Like I said, probably a tall tale.

Ron Travis · **Joined:** Sun May 15, 2005 2:22 pm **Posts:** 1543

Hugh,

That story about the engineer spinning the wheels on sanded rails sounds fairly plausible to me. At least he would have gotten the effect of a lathe turning. He would have had to make sure to spin the wheels fast enough to kind of jump over the flat spot. Otherwise he would cut the whole tire and the flat spot down together.

jasonsobczynski · **Posted:** Mon Apr 16, 2012 10:56 am

There is an allowance, but the quote us they tried making repairs, tried it out and then canceled the trip. To imply, that they would have run the trip if they liked the results. That is why I made the comment....

Frisco1522 · **Posted:** Mon Apr 16, 2012 11:06 am

If the flat spots are over a certain length, the wheels are condemnable by FRA standards. I'm not sure what good grinding does unless they had a big "booger" behind the flat spots from the steel "wiping" and leaving a trail. I wonder if the trailing truck wheels are flattened too?
I guess if they are condemnable it's possible to get a waiver to go back to Cheyenne at a reduced speed.
I don't know what happened other than what I've read and of course if it's on the internet it has to be true.

dinwitty · **Joined:** Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:18 pm **Posts:** 2226

Sounds like a way to not get chewed out... heh, the sand would not create a good "burn in" but running out on the field may help true it up with normal wear.
Whatever the case these things happen even on diesels, so there ya goes.

john creasing · **Joined:** Sat Jul 25, 2009 9:49 pm **Posts:** 36

They do happen on diesels, but out is gary worse for steam. I would like to know how this effects the DHT tires that the UP and Strasburg use. They are not legal for tread breaking because of how they react to heat, they fracture and crack. How prone to cracking are they now?

The DHT info is straight from ajax BTW.

John

Kelly Anderson · **Joined:** Tue Sep 14, 2004 7:52 am **Posts:** 2477

john creasing wrote:

… the DHT tires that the UP and Strasburg use.

That statement is not correct.

brandi_n_la · **Posted:** Mon Apr 16, 2012 12:44 pm

Excuse my ignorance, but what are DHT tires? And what is not correct in that statement? That UP and/or Strasburg use them or ??

Brandi

Kelly Anderson wrote:

john creasing wrote:

… the DHT tires that the UP and Strasburg use.

That statement is not correct.