Eastern Railroad Discussion > Friction Management...???

A new device seen today along the CSX in Fairview, PA- actual right at QD96. It is located about 15ft off of Tow Road, so I wandered over and the device indicates it is from LB Foster and is for "Friction Management". I assume it is a flange lubricator and not related to the EHH shenanigans going on, but do not know for sure. Will have to see when they get it (or him...) installed.

Also seen as EB Q362 blasts by.

Rob Bennett
Fairview, PA

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Great humor!  Thanks for noticing ... and sharing.

New greasers being installed on the Chicago Line, not only gage face greasers but "Top of Rail" greasers being installed as well.

 

Is Q362 a new symbol? Never heard that one before...

L B Foster website shows a gizmo that looks just like that, complete
​with an elevated solar panel (right in the middle of an nice open area for
photos).  Seriously, some interesting info on their site.

EHH has been known to cause friction but getting the CSX stockholders to gather around this friction management device may be a difficult task. Good luck all.
Gonut

Nice photo of CSX #54.
John 

It may have been Q364- I only heard a garbled transmission once, as Q36*(?) called the signal at CP97. I know it was EB, and a manifest, and three sixty -something- ...

MC6853 Wrote:
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> Is Q362 a new symbol? Never heard that one
> before...

Rob Bennett
Fairview, PA
http://youtube.com/user/SirDopeyTheBear/featured

From the looks of the hoses and boxes, it's not yet installed. One unit will either lubcriate (grease) the gage face or modify the friction on the top (not grease). The purpose of the top of rail isn't to make the wheels slip more easily, exactly, but to lower the coefficient of friction. When they install it, you'll be able to tell the difference by where the wiper blades go in and where the product collects. 

mw2007 Wrote:
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> New greasers being installed on the Chicago Line,
> not only gage face greasers but "Top of Rail"
> greasers being installed as well.
>
>  

K-5 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> From the looks of the hoses and boxes, it's not
> yet installed. One unit will either lubcriate
> (grease) the gage face or modify the friction on
> the top (not grease). The purpose of the top of
> rail isn't to make the wheels slip more easily,
> exactly, but to lower the coefficient of friction.
> When they install it, you'll be able to tell the
> difference by where the wiper blades go in and
> where the product collects. 

Top of Rail ??? ... i don't see that ... i been around rail greasing my whole career and i see no benefit to greasing the railhead since it doesn"t wear like the gage side of a rail ... a shiny smoothe rail is an enngineer's nightmare on curved rails on an uphill grade providing reduced friction for traction which wheel slippage engages ... and a greased railhead on a down grade would severely hinder the stopping ability of say 10,000 ton train on a 1-2% down grade especially on curves ...

in fact rail grinders are used to grind the railhead to scuff up the railhead surface to provide as much friction as possible to gain the most tractive effort the locomotives can produce without wheel slippage ... so for the life of me i can't see any practical situation where a greased railhead would be applicable in wheel to rail contact ...

so i'll ask ... in what application does the manufacturer claim a Top of Rail greaser would be beneficial in wheel to rail contact ??? ... please enlighten me ...

Got a good laugh out of this one!

Yep, its a thing now. The claimed benefit is reduced rolling resistance somehow. It skips the first several axles (power).

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/mow/article/Maintenance-of-way-technology-Top-of-rail-lubrication-and-friction-modifiers--30591

>
> Top of Rail ??? ... i don't see that ... i been
> around rail greasing my whole career and i see no
> benefit to greasing the railhead since it doesn"t
> wear like the gage side of a rail ... a shiny
> smoothe rail is an enngineer's nightmare on curved
> rails on an uphill grade providing reduced
> friction for traction which wheel slippage engages
> ... and a greased railhead on a down grade would
> severely hinder the stopping ability of say 10,000
> ton train on a 1-2% down grade especially on
> curves ...
>
> in fact rail grinders are used to grind the
> railhead to scuff up the railhead surface to
> provide as much friction as possible to gain the
> most tractive effort the locomotives can produce
> without wheel slippage ... so for the life of me i
> can't see any practical situation where a greased
> railhead would be applicable in wheel to rail
> contact ...
>
> so i'll ask ... in what application does the
> manufacturer claim a Top of Rail greaser would be
> beneficial in wheel to rail contact ??? ... please
> enlighten me ...

Around my office, I hear uncomplimentary references to the "the frickin' management" all the time.  Maybe I've been mishearing this, and my coworkers have been complaining about the "friction management" instead?

There's a far nastier joke to be made, of course, referring to painful procedures to be performed on the employees by management, which might be somewhat less awful if accompanied by a bit of lube.  I'd more often heard about butter or vaseline, maybe this is EHH trying to do that on a more widespread scale...