Ready for the Rails
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Trainman4602
- Posts: 3482
- Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 9:26 pm
- Location: New Jersey
Ready for the Rails
Well we are ready to go to the track tomorrow. This is how I like to move locomotives. I like to use wooden rail. I feel this is a better cushion then the use of steel or aluminum for rails. We used a piece of ½ plywood and some 1 ¼ door stop for the rails. They’re glued and screw down to the ply The angle bracket is made of ¼ steel and I use some blind nuts under the bottom side of the ply. The two 5/16 bolts screw directly into the back of the draw bar pocket. In front I have another angle bracket that is also bolted to the ply and the pilot beam, minus the pilot is clamped to the bracket. I have often seen the use of straps and bungee cords and rope but this is the only way to travel in my book. Just roll the engine in and bolt it up and away we go.
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DCWilloughby
Locomotive Transport
Dave
You've to the fore and aft problem solved, but what about side-to-side?
Dean
You've to the fore and aft problem solved, but what about side-to-side?
Dean
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Trainman4602
- Posts: 3482
- Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 9:26 pm
- Location: New Jersey
I have used this method for many years over 35 to be exact and I have never had a problem. It takes me about ten minutes to load or unload and the locomotive stays put I have driven thousands of miles with engines held down with this type of bracket. As for any side movement the wooden rails takes care of it.
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Bill Shields
Question
Your bracket are superb and should keep the loco fully anchored to the plywood no matter what..
If you don't mind me asking...
SHOULD you have a roll-over (admittedly, a worst case scenario), what keeps the plywood down on the deck and the loco off the back of your head if things start flying around?
I had a friend killed by an oscilloscope in a roll-over that he would have walked away from otherwise....so I am a bit paranoid about these things that other people often do not think about...
If you don't mind me asking...
SHOULD you have a roll-over (admittedly, a worst case scenario), what keeps the plywood down on the deck and the loco off the back of your head if things start flying around?
I had a friend killed by an oscilloscope in a roll-over that he would have walked away from otherwise....so I am a bit paranoid about these things that other people often do not think about...
Re: Question
For those of you old enough to remember him, Tom Mix was killed by a suitcase that was in the back seat of his Cord. My wife does not understand my paranoia when we pack the minivan for vacation.Bill Shields wrote:I had a friend killed by an oscilloscope in a roll-over that he would have walked away from otherwise....so I am a bit paranoid about these things that other people often do not think about...
BTW, congratulations on a sucessful first run, Trainman4602.
Steve
Re: Question
Especially at your age, I'm surprised that you knew he was killed in a Cord, or that you even know what a Cord is. How cool is that?SteveM wrote:For those of you old enough to remember him, Tom Mix was killed by a suitcase that was in the back seat of his Cord.
Steve
Harold
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Trainman4602
- Posts: 3482
- Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 9:26 pm
- Location: New Jersey
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Bill Shields
Flying Loco
Dave:
If you truck is upside down, your loco, board and brackets are going to come up (down or sideways) off the deck and be flying around because the gravity that WAS holding them DOWN is now working from a different direction relative to the vehicle.
Yes, I DO ask these questions because I believe that we all should be safe and understand the POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES.
I don't question that you have had no problems for 35 years and that your system looks very good for anchoring the loco for / aft and side to side....and if you never have a roll-over accident, you most likely never will have a problem..but...
The only problem is that you have forgotten to consider the 3rd axis of motion - that of up and down...and if the truck's wheels are no longer on the ground, the loco and board are going to start moving with the help of Sir Isasc Newton and everything a mechanical engineering student learns in their first class..
Force?...consider 1/2 a ton of locomotive, travelling FORWARD with your van. The van goes over on its side in an accident and suddenly the loco and board are free to travel around...and are STILL moving forward at 60 MPH while the van suddenly decelerates because it is no longer rolling..
The air bag goes off, holding you upright in your seat as the piece of plywood, with loco attached flys forward and chops it off.
THIS is what engineers do - evalute cost / risks - and are asked to consider all possibilities of what can happen during unexpected occurances (accidents) of all kinds.
People aren't hurt by the possibilities that they consider and take action against..they are killed by the possibilities that they never consider.
Have you ever stopped to consider why seat belts are anchored to the FRAME of the car and not to the seat? Consider the force that it will take to break a seat...and it happens in accidents and people were catapulted out through windshields because the seat belt, seat and person created enough force to pull the seat frame loose from the chassis of the car.
Like I said..I had a friend killed by an oscilloscope and Tom Mix and 1000's of other people have been injured by objects flying around INSIDE a rolling vehicle.
It doesn't take much to take that extra step to be especially safe...just anchor things to the FRAME of the vehicle so that they STAY PUT, even if the vehicle is on its side or roof.
One of these days, SOMEONE OUT THERE will thank someone like me for pointing out the possibility....and not be upset because I did.
If you truck is upside down, your loco, board and brackets are going to come up (down or sideways) off the deck and be flying around because the gravity that WAS holding them DOWN is now working from a different direction relative to the vehicle.
Yes, I DO ask these questions because I believe that we all should be safe and understand the POSSIBLE CONSEQUENCES.
I don't question that you have had no problems for 35 years and that your system looks very good for anchoring the loco for / aft and side to side....and if you never have a roll-over accident, you most likely never will have a problem..but...
The only problem is that you have forgotten to consider the 3rd axis of motion - that of up and down...and if the truck's wheels are no longer on the ground, the loco and board are going to start moving with the help of Sir Isasc Newton and everything a mechanical engineering student learns in their first class..
Force?...consider 1/2 a ton of locomotive, travelling FORWARD with your van. The van goes over on its side in an accident and suddenly the loco and board are free to travel around...and are STILL moving forward at 60 MPH while the van suddenly decelerates because it is no longer rolling..
The air bag goes off, holding you upright in your seat as the piece of plywood, with loco attached flys forward and chops it off.
THIS is what engineers do - evalute cost / risks - and are asked to consider all possibilities of what can happen during unexpected occurances (accidents) of all kinds.
People aren't hurt by the possibilities that they consider and take action against..they are killed by the possibilities that they never consider.
Have you ever stopped to consider why seat belts are anchored to the FRAME of the car and not to the seat? Consider the force that it will take to break a seat...and it happens in accidents and people were catapulted out through windshields because the seat belt, seat and person created enough force to pull the seat frame loose from the chassis of the car.
Like I said..I had a friend killed by an oscilloscope and Tom Mix and 1000's of other people have been injured by objects flying around INSIDE a rolling vehicle.
It doesn't take much to take that extra step to be especially safe...just anchor things to the FRAME of the vehicle so that they STAY PUT, even if the vehicle is on its side or roof.
One of these days, SOMEONE OUT THERE will thank someone like me for pointing out the possibility....and not be upset because I did.
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Trainman4602
- Posts: 3482
- Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 9:26 pm
- Location: New Jersey
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Bill Shields
Sleep
Actually, I do sleep well....and I worry about safety too much? 
Getting killed by a flying locomotive is NOT one lead lines I ever want appear in my obituary..nor in one of any other live steamer.
Yes, I do worry when it comes to safety and our hobby...and I don't believe that anyone can worry about it too much.
It comes from growing up in a boiler oriented household where safety concerns were my father's lifeblood, working for duPont for a while, where safety was etched into my forehead, then an oil company in the middle east, where if you weren't safe, you were dead....and I saw plenty of it in the decade I was there.
When you have high pressure gas, oil and water running around in 6' diameter pipes being pushed by pumps and compressors with 20,000 HP electric motors and 35,000 HP gas turbines driving them...things happen in a HURRY if you make a mistake...and you don't get second chances to say OOPS and grab another piece of 1/2" steel plate from the shelf to make another part.
In all my years in heavy industry, I am proud of the fact the nobody working directly for or with me was ever killed or seriously injured in an on-the-job accident.
This comes from being careful, thinking of the unexpected and planning for eventualities that others dismiss as trivial or never even think of at all...and I think that it is something to be proud of.
Yes, I sleep very well thank you, and if I can help one more person be aware of the dangers of improperly anchored objects, travelling down the road at 60 MPH inside a van, then I will sleep even better.
Getting killed by a flying locomotive is NOT one lead lines I ever want appear in my obituary..nor in one of any other live steamer.
Yes, I do worry when it comes to safety and our hobby...and I don't believe that anyone can worry about it too much.
It comes from growing up in a boiler oriented household where safety concerns were my father's lifeblood, working for duPont for a while, where safety was etched into my forehead, then an oil company in the middle east, where if you weren't safe, you were dead....and I saw plenty of it in the decade I was there.
When you have high pressure gas, oil and water running around in 6' diameter pipes being pushed by pumps and compressors with 20,000 HP electric motors and 35,000 HP gas turbines driving them...things happen in a HURRY if you make a mistake...and you don't get second chances to say OOPS and grab another piece of 1/2" steel plate from the shelf to make another part.
In all my years in heavy industry, I am proud of the fact the nobody working directly for or with me was ever killed or seriously injured in an on-the-job accident.
This comes from being careful, thinking of the unexpected and planning for eventualities that others dismiss as trivial or never even think of at all...and I think that it is something to be proud of.
Yes, I sleep very well thank you, and if I can help one more person be aware of the dangers of improperly anchored objects, travelling down the road at 60 MPH inside a van, then I will sleep even better.