Simple question, I feel like I know the answer but others may have more experience. Can a railcar that has had it's journal brasses missing (probably stolen) be moved a few hundred feet in a pinch, without doing damage? How MUCH damage?

I wouldn't risk it without any mitigation --- You COULD make some wood blocks about the same size and shape as your missing (probably stolen) journal brasses, install them, and fill the journal boxes with grease before moving the car. That's what I'd do, and best of luck.

I haven’t done it, but it has been discussed here that you can make a hardwood “bearing”, lube it up, stick it in there and move the car without journal damage. I think you’ll gouge the crap out of it without something in there. That’d be a shame if it’s a decent wheel set.

Just saw Sammy beat me to it.

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Use hardwood, and you can use progressively finer grades of sanding cloth wrapped carefully around the periphery of the axle journal to get them to a close fit. If you were obsessive I suppose you could line them with an appropriate high-density plastic with low surface activity...

I'd grease them, but also arrange bottom lubrication with appropriate oil.

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The one thing I'd note is that both peak and average loading on a link block is considerably lower than what a journal box would experience.

"Technically" if the wood is somewhat porous, the result might resemble the action of an oilite bearing, and I'd expect the result of dirt in the journal "bedding into" the softer material of a brass and then efficiently starting to cut the steel journal (this being a major issue with clocks!) would be less.

I'd also expect a wooden (or plastic) surface to conform quickly to a grooved journal -- but if there's any heat-checking, I'd either use emery cloth or similar material to level it,and if needed use some temporary hard agent to fill in the cracks once any sharp protruding edges have been 'machined' down.

As a PS: it's probably nearly as inportant to use careful prep before moving a car WITH brasses without careful pre-lubing (not under load if you can manage it). Even a few inches of dry contact could gall a brass bearing, or start to score a journal. At the very least, carefully coat the bottom of the viaible journal edge-to-edge with a good EP grease if you need to move it without lube and a pad present.

I'm going in blind with limited time. I have a decent amount of woodworking tools. What raw wood stock would you bring with you?


Somewhat related but won't help right now...are brasses readily available? I seem to recall some discussion around here that the supply was pretty limited. Not like the 'old days' when I imagine the RR would order a boxcar load at a time.

From my experience, in clearing any main line derailment the highest priority was the restoration of traffic. Whenever possible, this included the removal of all cars that were derailed or set aside, to eliminate or at least minimize subsequent track usage.

In those circumstances, as trucks were assembled it was a common practice to walk cars out "on wood" whenever the proper journal bearings were damaged or lost. Rarely was it necessary to move such cars more than a few miles to a siding where proper repairs could be made.

I'd stay away from either sandpaper or emery on either a brass or wood bearing. All it takes is for a few grains of abrasive to get stuck in the soft material, then when you move the car it starts gouging the steel axle... polishing brass or bronze journals with emery is an old job shop trick to keep the customer coming back for more and more machine work. These soft materials will wear in just fine on a steel axle.

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I can't find the pictures right now, but I can tell you if you move it without at least a wood block in place, it will destroy the axle and severely damage the journal box. I had to deal with a heavyweight car that somebody moved 1/2 mile without checking the bearings (they had all been stolen) and it was a gruesome sight.

I would speculate, having never actually done it, that plywood cut to the flat size of the"brass" would be preferable to solid wood, which can split then fall off the journal. Plywood can bend to conform to the curve of the axle without falling apart and should stay in place.

That would be a fairly thick piece of plywood!

As many others have said, if you try to move the equipment with no bearings, all the weight is on the small surface area of the journal box edges. That will leave a deep gouge in the axle.

If you are only moving a few hundred feet, almost any wood will suffice. Journals are often 5 wide by 9 long. Get a piece of 6x6 construction lumber and cut it to length, width, and thickness, so it fits in the box above the axle. Slobber it and the axle with grease. Don't worry about shaping it to the radius of the axle. The wood will crush down as needed to transfer the load, and there is no way the wood will damage the hard steel axle.

You could also use multiple pieces of, say, 1ine plywood, cut to the cross-section of the desired brass, and glue them together with a suitable adhesive to give 'cross-ply reinforcing' against splitting at the desired overall thickness.

Clamp it between the flat of a car jack and the raised frame of the car...