the black trucks look grey. True?

The black painted trucks seem to be grey in the photos.  Is it an artifact of the photo or do you recall the truck to actually appear grey or weathered black?

They certainly look much different from shiny black delrin trucks.

Nice coverage!

Thank you for taking the time and effort to get these pictures, and for sharing them with us.

I'd like to add a little information to your excellent report if I may.  My intent is to explain why the wheels were the color they were, and how they got that way. 

Most of the in service wheels looked like those in example 5.  As a train entered a initial terminal (the yard where an arriving train is broken up and made into other outbound trains), the air was bled off so they roll easily to be switched or humped, and the journal covers were lifted.  Each yard had their preferred method of insuring that the journals were oiled.  Then, when the train was made up, the air hoses would be coupled and the journal boxes closed.  A caboose would be added to the rear, and the train would be dispatched.  SO...  New oil leaking out of the back of the journal box.

As the train went over the line, a little more oil would leak out the back and on to the wheel where it would attract sand, dust and dirt.  If it was raining, some crud would be washed off.  If the train went up a hill, some sand from the locomotive would be added.  If it went down a hill, the crud would be baked on the wheel from the heat of the brakes against the wheel.  The wheels got really, really hot!  The smoke you see in pictures of trains descending a long grade was actually oil smoke.  Eventually, it would look like the wheel in picture three, where the crud is thick enough that it would start to slough off the next time the wheel got hot.

Your pictures show a good representation of the coloring of the wheels.  My memories are that there was an overall preponderance of those like in picture 5 or picture 6.

Bart

DougL said The black painted

DougL said

The black painted trucks seem to be grey in the photos.  Is it an artifact of the photo or do you recall the truck to actually appear grey or weathered black?

When viewed in person, I interpreted them as black.  However, the photo does match my memory, and grey they were (albeit a darker grey).

It was an overcast day, which probably makes everything look a bit bluer than they would have been in direct sunlight.  

Thanks for the question! 

Oil Smoke

BartHollis said:

The smoke you see in pictures of trains descending a long grade was actually oil smoke.  Eventually, it would look like the wheel in picture three, where the crud is thick enough that it would start to slough off the next time the wheel got hot.

The oil smoke is an interesting detail; I've always assumed that was hot brake dust (and maybe there's some of that too).

After reading the "the wheels got hot", my mind went straight to "and it baked on the crud".  Your comment that the gunk actually sloughed off in that situation caught me by surprise!

My memory of wheel faces from the early seventies (on a scenic railroad) is also black; though in my modeling of these, they will be quite a bit lighter so they don't disappear under the car. 

About Oil smoke

"Back Then" the brake shoes were made of case iron.  The wheels were made of Steel.  The "dust" would not be very visible floating in the air but it certainly did contribute to the browinsh wash that was seen on all the equipment whenever it rained. Riding in the caboose at the end of a heavy train descending a mountainous grade and trying to breathe would convince you that it was oil you were smelling while you waited to get to the bottom.

I think you're right about lightening the colors, as models are not shown in the same light as the real thing.

Bart

Brake shoe smoke

Yes, brake shoe smoke did have an oily smell but also a hot metal component as well.  The ambient air temperature has to be warm for a really good display of brake show smoke but now that most roads use dynamics a good show of brake shoe smoke has become a thing of the past.

How about a men's cologne composed of the smell of hot journal oil and brake shoe smoke?  I'd love it but the ladies would say it stinks!

Robert Oom

Fabulous post

Thank-you!
Rene'

"The ambient air temperature

     I recall riding in the caboose as the SP sand train came down the hill from Felton to Santa Cruz. A couple of dynamic brake GP9's but still lots of smoke from something. As the caboose leaned out over the river canyon on the curves I was hoping the train stayed on the rails :> ) ......DaveB

Oil leakage

One comment on the wheel gunk, any wheels today would be after decades of little or no maintenance so the leaks are probably worse than "back in the day".

Aged Wheel Gunk

Dave said:

One comment on the wheel gunk, any wheels today would be after decades of little or no maintenance so the leaks are probably worse than "back in the day".

A car that had been sitting for a long time would be an OK reference for the build up of gunk, but the color may not be - I agree with you there.  However, what's nice about the Strasburg collection is that they are well maintained and are moved on a regular basis (some more than others based on the other photos in the gallery).  Good, fresh gunk, in other words!

Strasburg is interesting in that they have picked a time period to "model", so the collection is focused and used to display that period.  I was impressed.  The museum across the street was also well focused (in that case, the very cohesive PRR collection).

Senses

Thanks for all the comments on the various sights and smells of the plain bearing age.  While I've not had those experiences, I spent ten years on an operating steam scenic railroad.  My clearest memories are of the sounds and smells of that operating railroad (most, but not all, locomotive related).