Wow!

Kudo's to Richard Hendrickson for doing the research and putting all this together in one neat little package!  I enjoyed the read and learned quite a bit about the development of the Freight Car Truck, and the linked .pdf file showing available trucks is certainly an asset to any model railroader.  Well Done!

One of the best articles yet

I will be referring to and rereading this article many times, I suspect.  Truly a gem.

Yes

Stuff like this is what I like.

Dave A.

PNR second division

My other hat is Superintendent of the NMRA Pacific Northwest region Second Division. Last month we had a division meet and were fortunate enough to have Richard present this material in person!

Lotsa great stuff.

Charlie

Truly impressive!

One of the more educational articles I have seen in a long time.  Very impressive work and my compliments.

So, bring on the post 1960s roller-bearing version?

Dear MRH team,

Nice and very informative. So, when can we expect Part 2, the post 60's> current-era roller-bearing edition?

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr

Great article

Missed it by that much

I model 1969 so am asking the same question.

....

Now there's some good solid information....even as a freelancer, my railroad isn't going to be making it's on trucks!!!

Freight car trucks article

Terrific job! One of the best articles on trucks I've ever read. It will be a great source of reference material for years to come. 

Impressive!!!

This article seemed to cover everything it stated it was going to, and covered it well.  Will there be a follow-up article on passenger trucks?

This needs to be archived

somewhere on the MRH site.  Perhaps Joe can start a Modeling Reference Library for articles like this that will see wide use and are essentially timeless.

Oh, great

Now I have to print it out 

Excellent article.  I also am looking forward to a Part 2.

John C

The definitive source

This is really an exceptional article that covers the subject completely. I've read other articles in the model railroading press but none cover this so well and especially not with so many detailed photos. 

Well done to both Richard for the research and writing and MRH for making it available to all of us!

An excellent quick reference on trucks for modelers!

Thank you Mr Hendrickson for doing this article. My modeling interests are the early 1900's logging railroads (1900 to 1920), and the 1950's right before steam died out. Articles like this help me better understand trucks and what would be right for each era. Hopefully in a future article, someone will be able to fill in pre-1900, as the kind of logging railroad I'm modeling would have often used obsolete equipment.

After covering trucks, somebody out there should cover brake wheels and brake systems with a similarly comprehensive article!

Virg

Excellent

This is an excellent article, well beyond any other I have seen in the hobby press.

I hope you will do one on passenger trucks for the same time period.

I have downloaded the pdf on model trucks just in case in the years to come it disappears.  I think that it should be added to the subscriber bonus downloads section.  I know the plan is to keep the web site up to date, which I think is great, but overtime some things go away on the 'net.

I agree with the poster above who suggested this article be saved in a reference section on the MRH site.

Thanks

Paul

One of the best

articles in MRH so far. This and Bruces DCC articles are gems.

Thanks!

What does 'Double Truss' refer to?

Thanks for the excellent article.

I have always wondered about the term 'Double Truss'.   What does it refer to?  Why is it that only later trucks, such as Photo 39, are referred to as 'Double Truss' yet they look to me to be similar to the the earlier trucks such as the Battendorf in Photo 16.   Is it that when the U-Channel gets closed in, that it becomes 'Double Truss'.

Freight Car Truck

Great article.  I worked for 8 years on passenger type trucks and they are a real pain to repair worn parts. 

Fantastic

Fantastic article. This is the kind of reference you just won't find in a print magazine.. or most books for that matter. Thank you very much, this article has been much appreciated!

Great article

Hand brakes and more details

Someone asked for a summary of hand brake wheels a few days ago. There are 59 pages covering a wide variety of freight car hand brakes in volume 10 of the  Railway Prototype Cyclopedia. Additionally, RPC Volume 16 offered a summary of running boards and brake steps. If you have an interest in prototype freight car designs and hardware, I highly recommend these publications.

Eric

Outstanding research

Thanks for this definitive article. It's a pleasure to read something so thoroughly researched and illustrated, and the writing is clear and concise.

Top-grade work!