Or you can pick up a hunk of bearing bronze and put it in the mill and chip off everything that doesn't look like a brass.

Why mess with rare wood when the correct material is readily available? Vitae is exceptional in barings exposed to water - if Matt were to go to Great Falls hydroelectric plant he could see huge vitae bearings - but railroad cars?

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

I have long wondered if Teflon plastic machined to shape would work for this application. The light weight should keep the plastic from distorting and this material is available at any well stocked toolmaker's supply house. Oil would only be necessary to prevent the axle journal from rusting and machining this stuff is a breeze.


jjbx@twcny.rr.com

I don't think this car loaded is really light. Might be fun to try.

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

I have been debating putting in teflon pads to rebuild the journal end stops in ge13031. I was worried about pieces of teflon (lighter than oil) floating up and getting caught between the babbit and the journal.


lamontdc@adelphia.net

Teflon probably isn't the way to go for any kind of high load application. It will cold-flow ("squish") under pressure. There are several other synthetic bearing materials that might work well, but they are probably close in cost to brass. MDS (molybdenum disulfide) is one that comes to mind. It's been used on live steamers in several applications and works pretty well.

> I have been debating putting in teflon pads
> to rebuild the journal end stops in ge13031.
> I was worried about pieces of teflon
> (lighter than oil) floating up and getting
> caught between the babbit and the journal.


the Ultimate Steam Page
whodom@awod.com

Thats another thing I was afraid of! Unfortunately the end stop plate does not have a real positive source of lubrication but it does get hammered when the the axle slides over. Looks like we stick to the plan of brass inserts.


lamontdc@adelphia.net

Great Falls hydro plant? Is this the TVA facility with the same name near Rock Island, TN? You've got my curiosity aroused now if it is.....

TVRM Shop Updates
aw90h@cs.com

> Great Falls hydro plant? Is this the TVA
> facility with the same name near Rock
> Island, TN? You've got my curiosity aroused
> now if it is.....

Sorry Mark, it is almost in SCRM's back yard near Winnsboro. Nowhere near the place by you where they burn uranium to make steam.

Dave


irondave@bellsouth.net

> Richard, when you talked to Magnus did you
> get a ballpark price? Last time I talked to
> them, the one piece price was over $500 and
> the mutli piece price dropped it to the $400
> range. I suspect that might be a little rich
> for our friend here.

More than a LITTLE rich! We've bought whole LOCOMOTIVES for less than that!


The South Carolina Railroad Museum
mconrad@compuzone.net

> I don't think this car loaded is really
> light. Might be fun to try.

> Dave

FAR from light. We're hauling about 25 cubic yards of red clay and decomposed granite in it each trip. Don't know how much weight that works out to but I'll bet it's substantial.

Mike Gellner and I are working on some plans to cobble together a replacement for the dump car. We'll keep y'all posted.


The South Carolina Railroad Museum
mconrad@compuzone.net

> Why mess with rare wood when the correct
> material is readily available? Vitae is
> exceptional in barings exposed to water - if
> Matt were to go to Great Falls hydroelectric
> plant he could see huge vitae bearings - but
> railroad cars?

> Dave

I've always wanted to look around a hydro plant. Wooden bearings, eh?

Speaking of Great Falls, I'd also like to wander around the site of Springs Park and see if anything is left of the 15" gauge railroad...

The South Carolina Railroad Museum
mconrad@compuzone.net