Steam & Excursion > What does a driving wheel weigh?

I was showing some photos of C&O 614 to a non-rr fan friend and he was struck by the massive driving wheels.  He asked: "What does one of those weigh, and are they casted all at once?"

I tried to find the aswer on the internet but didn't succeed.

Can anyone here help? (Wes, Ross?)

The reason had to do with the attached photo, taken in Port Jervis, NY, I think on the 1998 runs.

B&OBill

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I ABSOLUTELY LOVE that charming photo, of the enthralled child!

I'm not sure, but I believe that the PRR T-1 (replica) construction team
has cast a couple new drivers ( 80").

Only two designs of drivers are used by tye T-1: a Main driver, with crankpin
for the Main Rod ( connected to the piston rod), and a plain driver, with 
simply 2 crankpin holes for the Side Rod.


Driver 'Quartering'  Right-lead vs Left-lead...

The Rights & Lefts are determined by the location of the machined 
key-way, in the wheel hub, for correct alinement to the keyed driving axles.
The PRR used uncommon Left-side 'leading' crankpin orientation.

Normally, for clarity, designers discuss right and left-leading engines,
as if you were standing on the engineer's ( "right-side") side of the loco, looking at,
and through to the opposite side.

A 'right-lead' engine, when spotted with the right piston at full forward, has
its right crankpin at the "Three o'clock" position, while the left side would 
have it's crank pin at the 12 o'clock postion, 90 degrees lagging behind
the Right side crank pins.

A left-lead engine (PRR) would have the Left-side crank pin at the 3 o'clock position,
with the Right-side crankpins back at the 12 o'clock position.

Again that is determined by the key-ways cut into the driving axles and
the cast wheel centers.

I'll check with the group for their input about what their 80" driver centers
weigh. That weight would also increase when the new driver tires are shrunk
onto that cast driver-center.

Wes Camp

( Note: in the picture, C&O loco 614, has 72" driver diameters.  So that,
  at 60 mph, the drivers are rotating at about 280 RPMs... about 4.7 revolutions per 
   second .... Ross has had it faster than 60-per [ I'd wager that it's been run at
    79 MPH]....but, at 60-per, that's still an amazing amount of whirling  wheights ,  
    times the 8 drivers...)



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/23 07:09 by wcamp1472.

I don't have the exact numbers and I am relying on a memory from about 12 years ago, but when we lifted the Milw 261 off its drivers during its second rebuilt, we had the crane measure the weight of each driver set, which would include the left and right driver on the axel as well as the roller bearing box, roller bearings, and counterweights. The No. 1 and No. 4 driver sets were between 9000 and 10,000 pounds, the No. 3 set was between 10,000 and 11,000 pounds, and the No. 2 set which has the heaviest counterweight due to the connecting rod to the crosshead was around 13000 pounds.