Train wheel

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Flanged railway wheel

Railroad car wheels are affixed to a straight axle, such that both wheels rotate in unison. This is called
a wheelset.

A train wheel or rail wheel is a type of wheel specially designed for use on rail tracks. A rolling
component is typically pressed onto an axle and mounted directly on arail car or locomotive or
indirectly on a bogie, also called atruck. Wheels are cast or forged (wrought) and are heat-treated to
have a specific hardness. New wheels are trued, using a lathe, to a specific profile before being
pressed onto an axle. All wheel profiles need to be periodically monitored to ensure proper wheel-rail
interface. Improperly trued wheels increase rolling resistance, reduce energy efficiency and may
create unsafe operation. A railroad wheel typically consists of two main parts: the wheel itself, and
the tire (or tyre) around the outside. A rail tire is usually made fromsteel, and is typically heated and
pressed onto the wheel, where it remains firmly as it shrinks and cools. Monobloc wheels do not

have encircling tires, whileresilient rail wheels have a resilient material, such as rubber, between
the wheel and tire.
Contents
[hide]

1Wheel geometry and flange

2Wheel arrangement

3Wheel-related topics

4Parts of a rail wheel

5Wheels for road-rail vehicles

6Tire

7Tire installation

8Causes of Damage

9See also

10References

11External links

Wheel geometry and flange[edit]

Railway wheel flange (left)

Tram wheel flange (right)

Most train wheels have a conical geometry, which is the primary means of keeping the train's motion
aligned with the track. Train wheels have a flange on one side to keep the wheels, and hence the
train, running on the rails, when the limits of the geometry based alignment are reached, e.g. due to
some emergency or defect. See Hunting oscillation. Some wheels have a cylindrical geometry,
where flanges are essential to keep the train on the rail track.

Wheel arrangement[edit]
Main article: Wheel arrangement

Wheel-related topics[edit]

Driving wheel: A wheel in contact with the rail that also propels a
locomotive.

Bogie

Flat: A wheel defect where the tread of a wheel has a flat spot and is
no longer round; flats can be heard as regular clicking or banging
noises when the wheel passes by. This is caused either by a locked
bearing, or a brake that was not fully released before the car was
moved, dragging the wheel without turning.

Pony truck: A two-wheel truck (US) or bogie (UK) at the front of a

locomotive

Sand: granular material poured on the rail in front of the drive wheels
to improve traction.(Sandite is a more specialised form for a similar
purpose.)

Slippery rail: The condition of fallen leaves or other debris lying on

and clinging to a railroad track that could cause train wheel slippage,
resulting in premature wheel wear and train delays.

Torpedo (US): A small explosive device strapped to the top of the rail
to alert an approaching train of danger ahead. A torpedo creates a
loud noise upon contact with a locomotive wheel, signaling the
engineer to reduce speed to 20 mph or less; the train cannot resume
its original speed until it has traveled at least a mile beyond where it
encountered the device. Traditionally used in pairs to ensure that the
sound registered with train crews, torpedoes today are essentially
obsolete as modern locomotive cabs' soundproof construction renders
the devices useless. (UK:Detonator)

Trailing wheel

Wheel Climb: The process of a wheel climbing up and often off the
inside or gauge side of the rail. It is a major source of derailments.
Wheel climb is more likely to occur in curves with wheels whose
flanges are worn or have improper angles. See Rail adhesion.

Wheel Flange: The inner section of a wheel that rides between the
two rails. The angle between the wheel tread and flange is often
specific to the rail to prevent wheel climb and possible derailments.
See Rail adhesion. The wheel flange is part of the wheel tire.

Wheel Tapper: An historical railway occupation; people employed to

tap train wheels with hammers and listen to the sound made to
determine the integrity of the wheel; cracked wheels, like cracked
bells, do not sound the same as their intact counterparts. The job was
associated with the steam age, but they still operate in some eastern
European countries. Modern planned maintenance procedures have
mostly obviated the need for the wheel-tapper.

Wheel Tread: The slightly conical section (often with a 1 in 20 slope)

of a railroad wheel that is the primary contact point with the rail.
See Rail adhesion.

Wheelset: the wheel-axle assembly of a rail vehicle. The frame

assembly beneath each end of a car, railcar or locomotive that holds
the wheelsets is called the bogie (or truck).

Parts of a rail wheel[edit]

Crank pin: A pin protruding from a wheel into a main or coupling rod.

Wheels for road-rail vehicles[edit]

The small rail wheels fitted to road-rail vehicles allow them to be stored away when the vehicle is in road-going
mode.

Wheels used for Road-rail vehicles are normally smaller than those found on other types of
rollingstock (such as locomotives or carriages). This is because the wheel has to be stored clear of
the ground when the vehicle is in road-going mode - Such wheels can be as small as 245 mm
(9.65 in) in diameter. In Australia, wheels forRoad-rail vehicles should comply with the requirements
of AS7514.4 which is the standard for infrastructure maintenance vehicle wheels.

Tire[edit]
Main article: Railway tire
The wheels of many rail vehicles, especially steam locomotives and older types of rolling stock are
fitted with steel tires (or tyres in British English, Australian English and others) to provide a
replaceable wearing element on a costly wheel.
These steel tires should not be confused with the tires fitted to rubber-tyred metros and people
movers, for example some lines of the Paris Mtro, the Mexico City Metro, the Caracas Metro,
theMontreal Metro, Sapporo Subway, Seattle Center Monorail, Taipei Rapid Transit System and
theSantiago Metro.

Tire installation[edit]

Steel tire on a steam locomotive's driving wheel is heated with gas flames to expand and loosen it so it may be
slipped over the wheel.

Replacing a whole wheel because of a worn contact surface is expensive, so older types of railway
wheels were fitted with replaceable steel tires. The tire is a hoop of steel that is fitted around the
steel wheel centre. The tire is machined with a shoulder on its outer face to locate it on the wheel
centre, and a groove on the inside diameter of the flange face. The inside diameter of the tire is
machined to be slightly less than the diameter of the wheel centre on which it is mounted, to give an
interference fit.
The tire is fitted by heating to a controlled temperature, avoiding overheating. This causes the tire to
expand. The wheel centre, usually already mounted on the axle, is lowered into the tire which is
flange side up. The tire cools, and the retaining ring (a shaped steel bar rolled into a hoop) is fitted
into the groove. Hydraulically operated rolls swage the groove down on to the retaining ring.
The tire is primarily held in place by its interference fit. The shoulder on the outside and the retaining
ring also keep the tire in place if the interference fit is lost. This is most often due to severe drag
braking down a gradient, or due to an error in the machining.
Removal of a worn tire is by machining out the retaining ring and heating the tire to relax the
interference fit.
Some steam locomotive wheels had tires bolted through the rim, or with a second smaller shoulder
machined on the inside face of the tire. This shoulder was severely limited in size as it had to pass
over the wheel centre for assembly.
Tires of different designs were fitted to wheels with wooden centers (Mansell wheels in the UK) and
to various other types.
The use of tires is becoming obsolete. The utilisation of traditional freight wagons was often so low
that tires never needed renewal, so it was cheaper to fit a one-piece ("monoblock") wheel.
Monoblock wheels are lighter and offer better integrity as there is no tire to come loose. Modern flowline repair lines are disrupted by the inspection of the wheel centre once the tire is removed, possibly
generating extra rectification work, and the need to make each tire fit its allocated wheel centre.
Monoblock wheels are now more economical.

Causes of Damage[edit]
The most usual cause of damage is drag braking on severe gradients. Because the brake blocks
apply directly on the tire, it is heated up, relaxing the interference fit. It is not feasible to fit the tire
with such a heavy interference as to eliminate this risk entirely, and the retaining ring will ensure that

the tire can only rotate on the wheel center, maintaining its alignment. In rare instances the rotation
could be so severe as to wear the retaining ring down till it breaks, which could result in derailment.
Severe braking or low adhesion may stop the rotation of the wheels while the vehicle is still moving
can cause a flat spot on the tire and localized heat damage to the tire material.
Tires are reasonably thick, about 3 inches (76 mm), giving plenty of room for wear. Worn tires or tires
with flats are re-profiled on a wheel lathe if there is sufficient thickness of material remaining.

See also[edit]

Adhesive weight

Conical shape

References[edit]
ISO 1005 Parts 1-9 BS 5892 Parts 1-6 AS7414.4

External links[edit]

"APTA PR-CS-RP-003-98 Recommended Practice for Developing a

Clearance Diagram for Passenger Equipment 5.3.2.1 Design
tolerances" (PDF). APTA.com. American Public Transportation
Association. 1998-03-26. Retrieved 2015-01-17.

Train wheels
[hide]

Locomotive running and valve gear

Valve gear types

Allan
Baker
Bagnall-Price
Baguley
Bulleid
Caprotti
Gab
Gooch
Gresley
Hackworth
Joy

Kuhn slide
Lentz
Southern
Stephenson
Walschaerts
AAR type A switcher truck
Articulated bogie
Bissel truck
Blomberg B
Bogie types

Grovers bogie
Jacobs bogie
Krauss-Helmholtz bogie
Pony truck
Radial steering truck
Schwartzkopff-Eckhardt II bogie
Adams axle
Axlebox
Beugniot lever
Carrying wheel
Coupled wheel
Driving wheel
Equalising beam

Other running gear elements

Glsdorf axle
Journal box
Klien-Lindner axle
Leading wheel
Luttermller axle
Radial axle
Railway tire
Trailing wheel
Train wheel

Categories:

Train wheels

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This page was last modified on 18 August 2015, at 00:02.

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