Passenger Trains > Amtrak Silver Meteor with DOT car

DOTX #221 on Amtrak #97 at Jesup, Georgia on 12/07/19

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I saw it go through New Brunswick, NJ on Friday, from a distance.

Silly me - I thought it was a PV, and the lettering might have said Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac"

Sounds like the new baggage car has a bad "Flat  Wheel".  -  Anybody know what causes this condition ?

ronald321 Wrote:
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> Sounds like the new baggage car has a bad "Flat 
> Wheel".  -  Anybody know what causes this
> condition ?

It sure did!

It's called a wheelset sliding along the rails instead of slowing down as brakes are applied, causing that irritating, banging sound,  needing re-profiling or a changeout before real damage occurs, IIRC 1-1/2" Amtrak flat spot or more.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/19 09:54 by Abqfoamer.

Thanks, Abqfoamer -- but is it caused by the locomotive engineer failing to do something correctly -- or it it just an unavoidable mechanical failure?

ronald321 Wrote:
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> Thanks, Abqfoamer -- but is it caused by the
> locomotive engineer failing to do something
> correctly -- or it it just an unavoidable
> mechanical failure?
How about the failure to take the hand brake completely off before moving the car?  This has happened to many cars over the years.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

Flat wheels happen largely as described above - "brakes" of some sort - are applied on the train set (or on the car directly) and instead of the train gradually slowing down with brake application, either a brake is locking or engaging too quickly and the wheels basically lock and are dragged on the rails.

Think about if a train goes into emergency, most wheels are going to lock and be dragged on the tracks till the train stops - or that's the image we all kinda get. How far the wheels are going to lock and be dragged will determine the damage of how much the wheel has been made "flat" (as that was the side of the wheel being scrapped or dragged in lock position when in contact against the rail).

Been on many Amtrak train cars, communter train cars, and even private rail cars with flat wheels. Had a private car in for regular maintenance and new wheel sets installed only to have its second run be involved in a "heavy brake application" and the front wheels ended up flat, not the rear set. We braked from running about 80 mph to 35 mph. Not sure exactly how this happened, but it did. One thing of note - the reduction in speed was not really supposed to happen when it did. Only the private car was affected in the whole consist so I later found out......Back to the shop!

Just be careful in pointing the finger directly at the engineer all the time, as its also in the maintenance of the cars' brakes and other factors (hand breaks being wrongly applied) etc. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/09/19 14:56 by jp1822.