What a great write-up!

This article is going right into my "mandatory references" list. Great information for my mid-30's to mid-40's era.

Good Summary

Good summary of freight car trucks.

Freight car trucks of the 20th Century

Great work! Excellent drawings and pictures. Enjoyed the entire article.

Loved the article. Lots of

Loved the article. Lots of great information.

This article

This article came along just when I needed it!

These articles are one of the

These articles are one of the things I like about the magazine. It is far and away a better subject than many covered by the other magazines. It would be interesting to see a list of hobby companies that make which trucks in various scales. I suspect that would also be a huge help to many modelers. Also it would be interesting to have suggestions offered on how to kitbash those that are not offered and list a suggested starting point.

I think some of those might be modeled by doing some molding and casting to get the unusual types. That sounds like a future project for me to put on my some day list.

R.R. trucks

After reading the article on railroad trucks, I found a great deal more information that added to my knowledge base. Hats off to Richard. Thanx muchly. Steve Klein  

Many thanks - for boiling it down!

I've been collecting notes on trucks... and images... and dates.... and this article has it condensed into one place!

All I need do now is determine which railroads avoided truck 'X' or 'Y', and which preferred 'Z'  (even some of that is within).

The nastiest truck research I still have is: who painted their trucks various colors... and what colors were used.   PRR, and SP (especially) as I can find used various reds or browns and REA used greens.  Then there's gray.  Or silver. And I can't find much about When these colors were used.

Nonetheless... Kudos to the makers of colored trucks! (You know who you are! )  And I want you to ADVERTISE here! (As does Joe, I'm sure).

Again, Thanks, Richard!

R R Trucks

Fantastic article, especially for its detail and completeness!!

To be honest, I would have benefitted more if it included a glossary of terms, since I had to 'guess' at many unique-to-me words.

Glossary of terms

I think that's actually an excellent idea. I'd include it with "exploded diagrams" of two or three varieties of trucks.

Now to find someone who could draw it...

(Frankly, I'd love to see something like that on freight cars and locomotives as well - there are a lot of parts that I have no idea what or where they are)

No need to draw it

Google "railcar truck diagram" and you will have multiple drawings (some even in Chinese).

PRINT THIS OUT???

freight car trucks

Is there a way to print out this article on paper as a reference.

Sure

Sure, just select "Print" when you have the magazine open. It's not complicated -- not sure why the question, even. Maybe you can elaborate -- are you having trouble?

PRINTING

Yes did not see the Print Icon at the top of page. Click on Print and all the pages show, then click on the pages to print. Then set up printer at 88% and print. I use Chrome and am not a computer person. I have an IPhone Apple and call my 12 year old G-Son to tell me how to work the phone. I am 71,  I remember when phones had a "tail " connected to the wall and a "rotary dial thing" to call someone. A computer, Oh we had those only you had to "Slide" the thing, line up the numbers to get an approximation on the calculations. For you young guys it was called a "Slide Rule". I asked my G-Son what is the squire root of 625, he said just a minute...SIRI what is the Sq. Root of 625.

OFF SOAP BOX.

Probably the best article

Probably the best article that has appeared in MRH! In fact I stopped browsing through the issue and read the article. Now, you think that freight car trucks were many and varied, try looking up the styles available over the years for trolleys and interurbans.

Great Article

I've always wondered what the difference is on all the trucks on my rolling stock.  Now I can figure out which ones are right, and which ones maybe could be replaced.  Not high on my list, but maybe some day when construction is done.  I will keep this reference handy for that day, and enjoy showing off my knowledge to my friends!

Modeling Railcar Trucks

For those seeking additional truck info:

The late Richard H. Hendrickson wrote a couple of articles. The first is in MRH here:

https://forum.mrhmag.com/magazine-feedback-was-ezines-891776

The second is available online here:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Bz_ctrHrDz4wcjJWcENpaDJYbUU/edit

This is an extremely valuable article with photos and identifying comments on most of the available HO trucks.

Tony Thompson has also made valuable contributions in this MRH article:

https://forum.mrhmag.com/magazine-feedback-was-ezines-891776

Steve Hoxie

Pensacola FL

Car Builder Cyclopedia

A great reference for trucks and other related railroad hardware is the Car Builder Cyclopedia's. I've been able to source quite a few using my local library's interlibrary loan system to borrow Car Builder Cyclopedia's from around the US. It's kind of hit and miss on the publication years, unless you can really help narrow down the search for the librarian, but being a free service from your local library it is a great way to access some of these more hidden jems of research. What I typically do is scan the information from the lending library, and the publication information as well as any pages I think might be useful.

The Car Builder Cyclopedia's have a lot of information about truck and bearing design. Normally they have a decent drawing or two that you can use as a scaled drawing to work from. Combine those with the MRH article and you have another great modeling resource.

Gets my 5 star rating !

Thank you Richard for covering this with fresh eyes. Craig is correct, The Car Builders Cyclopedia does give you pictures and drawings ( as well as many print magazines past issues ) but it is always good to read about the individual trucks and the history and use for them. It helps jog your memory and verify that what you may have thought was OK...may not be.

Michael

What a useful article,

What a useful article, Richard. And you have really done your homework getting all those illustrations. Thanks for your hard work- I will be saving this piece and I'm sure I will refer to it often. 

Victor Roseman

EXCELLENT MRH article'

This is a well done article, just the right amount of crucial information for quick reference. I'm always amazed when I see all the variations of designs of the equipment by so many companies that dedicated their products to enhance railroading.  Fascinating and enjoyable article to read'.. [*****] 

Also a great resource: the

Also a great resource: the patent office...

A chart from a patent assigned to  Timken  and Trinity  includes the chart below...  and several illuminating drawings (with a 9-coil spring pack). 

This is for Modern trucks (note the design weights)

Good things to search are your subject, the year and "prior art"

https://patents.google.com/patent/US6371033

 Also see Bettendorf's patent drawings...  for roller bearing truck  1928 

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/03/e5/24/9d384b40e45f93/US1871778.pdf

Figure 1 shows clearly the bake beam assembly... (See most notable parts 6, 19-26)

Want to add my accolades

Always appreciate the research work of other modelers, and this article is a prime example of how much information can be passed on from "those who know" I always feel indebted to those who have gone to the trouble to compile exhaustive information.  Also, thanks to the reader above (Dave) who posted the truck diagrams from the web.  Thanks

Richard Bale's excellent article

An intriguing and thorough timeline of what seems a mundane part of railroad equipment.   It took impressive ingenuity to keep things simple and safe. 

Recently Netflix program "Babylon Berlin" has some 1920's railroad intrigue as conflicting factions investigate a train with suspicious cargo.  An occasional close up reveals a unique truck design.