Wheel Progress was made today at the WW&F...

[Ed Lecuyer]

Jerry and Carlos Steinke have been working tirelessly to get to this proud moment.

[Bill Baskerville]

And that is the small wheel press.  You should see the wheely big wheel press that is out back by the containers.  It will be wheely impressive when Jerry and Carlos get that one working.

[Gordon Cook]

Very imPRESSive!
 

Seriously though, a really great and thorough rebuild and clever adaptation of this press. Another valuable addition to our capabilities thanks to our dedicated volunteers.

[Bob Holmes]

Just WOW!  Another major addition to our shop capabilities for years to come

Bob

[James Patten]

If Jerry and Carlos together could curl that wheelset, I'd be wheely impressed.

[Stephen Lennox]

It has been interesting peeking in on Jerry and Carlos on this project. Not being a Shop Rat and possessing these skills, they have worked hard and the final results is satisfying for all. Great job guys.

[Jeff Schumaker]

Nice work.

Jeff S.

[ALAIN DELASSUS]

Great job of work. In France  second hand two foot gauge axles and wheels are very rare let alone trucks. AMTP just purchased two trucks in Poland but the haulage costed an arm and a leg.

[Dave Crow]

Looking at the photo above with Jerry and Carlos with a newly-pressed wheelset, several questions come to mind:

1.  Do the axles have shoulders so that the wheels cannot be pressed too far on the axle, essentially creating a no-brainer form of gauging the wheelsets?
2.  If so, do the wheels themselves have a tight tolerance from the tread to the back of the wheel?
3.  Are the wheelsets gauged based on flange spacing or back to back dimension?

Thanks in advance,
Dave Crow

[Jason M Lamontagne]

Hi Dave,

1.  The axles do not have shoulders.  That way we could avoid having to fit the leading edge of the axle seat in the wheel bore to accommodate a fillet which would be required for such a shoulder.

2, 3.  The wheels were gauged using go/no go gauges against the insides of the hubs, after we verified the dimension from those hub faces to the back side of the flange.  Design gauge is based on back gauge and check gauge.  We have always very carefully maintained minimum check gauge on switches and maximum check gauge on wheelsets. 

These wheels are “narrow flange contour” which calls for a slightly wider back gauge in order to maintain an appropriate check gauge.  The original Maine two foot railroads invariably used narrow flange contour wheels.  In the preservation era, several wheelsets were made using modern wide flange contour wheels, but pressed to a back gauge intended for narrow flanges.  Those wheelsets have proven to wear out very prematurely (thin, sharp flanges). 

These new wheelsets we have designed have very appropriate contact from flange to rail. 

Thanks,
Jason