Is this a flange oiler?

[Will Vale]

Hi all,

 

I've been trying to figure out what these yellow drums are, as seen in e.g. this picture from Jon Tomlinson's fotopic site:

 

http://john-tomlinso.../p62969896.html

 

There appears to be a short thick duct or cable from the drum to just under the rail, and some more cables or pipes across the outside with a couple of small items attached. There are a couple more further into the yard, and one on the opposite rail on the other side of the bridge (behind the viewer). I thought initially these were leftovers from construction, but it's obvious from looking at more pictures that they aren't. I wondered if perhaps they were axle counters (but they look bigger than all the pictures of those I could find) and now I'm wondering if they are flange oilers?

 

I'm not sure, because there doesn't appear to be much happening on the inside of the rail, but looking again it looks like the pipes come under the rail and terminate in some very greasy looking patches, so maybe it is? I can't find any captioned pictures to confirm or deny my guess though, so any help would be appreciated.

 

Many thanks!

 

Will

[Trevellan]

I can't access Fotopic from work but from your description it does indeed sound like a flange lubricator. I've sometimes wondered how easy it would be to incorporate a convincing depiction of such a device - and its effects - on a layout.

[craigwelsh]

The inner rail is checked with wear on it which suggests its quite a tight bend there. Carefully observed weathering needed around that and you could scratchbuild the drum in plastic or brass.

[Will Vale]

Thanks all! I think these should make an interesting scratchbuilding project, although I'm probably going to see if I can find anything suitable among some leftover military kit parts (or in the bead shop?)

 

The inner rail is checked with wear on it which suggests its quite a tight bend there.

 

 

You're right, it is a very tight bend there - there are two sharp curves (East + West) under the bridge to the main line. I read somewhere the check rail was installed to stop ZCAs derailing shortly before Whitemoor was closed - probably still making itself useful since there seem to be a fair few long wheelbase opens (OCA, OBA) in the re-opened yard!

 

I don't have the check rail on my layout (yet) since I don't have room for the curves, but maybe I could put just the start of it suggesting they continue under the bridge? Food for thought.

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[96701]

Rail lubricator, actually. The flange pumps the grease onto the rail head, the wheel spreads the grease along the rail, reducing noise and Rolling Contact Fatigue.

[phil-b259]

Rail lubricator, actually. The flange pumps the grease onto the rail head, the wheel spreads the grease along the rail, reducing noise and Rolling Contact Fatigue.

 

Erm ... it would be a bit dangerious to apply lubricant to the rail head itself, as has been demonstrated before many times when trains have had problems stopping due to an over active lubricator. No the actual applicator is attached to the inside face of the rail (facing into the 4ft) up near the top and as the flange of the wheel brushes past it a small ammount of lubricant is transfered to the flange itself, not the actual wheel.

[Pete the Elaner]

I've sometimes wondered how easy it would be to incorporate a convincing depiction of such a device - and its effects - on a layout.

If you're modelling 4mm, then I would guess you would have to do this in P4. Surely even EM would make the check rail visibly too far from the running rail to look reasonable?

[craigwelsh]

If you're modelling 4mm, then I would guess you would have to do this in P4. Surely even EM would make the check rail visibly too far from the running rail to look reasonable?

There is a layout on here somewhere that has used Exactoscale 0.8mm check chairs for a 00 checked curve without issues.. I was quite surprised as well!

[Will Vale]

OO here, I'm afraid. I'm pretty sure I've seen other lubricators which have something inside the rail head which would require fine clearances - for example see Martyn Read's picture here:

 

http://ukrailinfrastructure.fotopic.net/p25833633.html

 

The ones at Whitemoor appear to be much less obtrusive, unless it's just that I'm not reading the photo right - the only addition inside the rail is a thin flat "comb" attached to the inside of the railhead.

 

Will

[Trevellan]

Thanks to Phil for clarifying 96701's comment. The wheel/rail interface doesn't always get the profile (sorry!) it deserves. Flange lubricators are there to i) reduce flange wear on tight curves and ii) to reduce or prevent flange squeal. The reason that the 3CIGs on the Lymington branch were turned regularly was to even out flange wear. Keeping them the same way round on the same route would have resulted in uneven wear, requiring regular reprofiling and, eventually, new wheelsets.

[eldavo]

Another link. Not much info but a couple of pictures.

 

Link to short Network Rail paper

 

On my list to build a representation of.

 

Cheers

Dave

[ForestPines]

If you're modelling 4mm, then I would guess you would have to do this in P4. Surely even EM would make the check rail visibly too far from the running rail to look reasonable?

 

Flange lubricators aren't limited to check railed track - here's an example on the Northallerton Avoiding Line:

[Peter Kazmierczak]

Here's one at Teignmouth.

[eldavo]

Another example, this one on the line to Derby at Water Orton where there is a speed limit of 90mph.

 

 

Cheers

Dave

[Will Vale]

Nice pictures - many thanks for sharing those. The more modern type (last picture, and at Whitemoor) is strangely reminiscent of the Martian capsules from the War of the Worlds...

 

Will

[96701]

Erm ... it would be a bit dangerious to apply lubricant to the rail head itself, as has been demonstrated before many times when trains have had problems stopping due to an over active lubricator. No the actual applicator is attached to the inside face of the rail (facing into the 4ft) up near the top and as the flange of the wheel brushes past it a small ammount of lubricant is transfered to the flange itself, not the actual wheel.

 

I had always thought that the wheel included the tread and flange, and where the two meet is the root. This is where the lubicant gets squeezes from, so too much, and it could get onto the head and onto the inside face of the head.

 

Extract from Control of Rolling Contact Fatigue of Rails (Strictly for the seriously interested)

5 CONTROLLING AND TREATING RCF - SUMMARY

 

• Manage friction – control the top-of-rail value to 0.3-0.35. Avoid over lubricating the gauge face

such that the top-of-rail becomes contaminated, since it not only increases propagation of surface

cracks but also poses a safety risk.

[Blue Max]

I was looking at this type of Lubricator on the tracks at the Devon Sea wall just North of Dawlish only last week, in that location it certainly seemed to be lubricating the inside of the rail head. They are also a number of them on the track just north of Ribblehead Viaduct before Blea Moor tunnel again lubricating the inside rail head, here the grease had been carried a considerable way along the track beyond the point of application .

[phil-b259]

I was looking at this type of Lubricator on the tracks at the Devon Sea wall just North of Dawlish only last week, in that location it certainly seemed to be lubricating the inside of the rail head. They are also a number of them on the track just north of Ribblehead Viaduct before Blea Moor tunnel again lubricating the inside rail head, here the grease had been carried a considerable way along the track beyond the point of application .

 

This can indeed look to be the case but upon close examination however, the portion of the rail head upon which the wheel actually makes contact, i.e. the shiney line down the middle of the rail, should be free from grease. However it is allways possable that the lubricator is supplying a tad too much lubricant with the passage of each train, though not enough to saverly affect the breaking performance of trains.

 

Also it is true that the grease does tend to end up covering everything 'downstream' from the lubricator so to speak, due to the tendancy for excess grease to be flung off the flange and particles of grease moved along by the air currents from passing trains.

[Grovenor]

I was looking at this type of Lubricator on the tracks at the Devon Sea wall just North of Dawlish only last week, in that location it certainly seemed to be lubricating the inside of the rail head.

This can indeed look to be the case but upon close examination however, the portion of the rail head upon which the wheel actually makes contact, i.e. the shiney line down the middle of the rail, should be free from grease.

Not only does it look to be the case but it is the case. The lubricators are designed to put the grease on the inside of the rail head where it will be picked up by the flange, that is why they are normally on the high rail of a curve where the flanges will come into contact.

The shiny line down the middle is not the 'inside of the rail head'

Regards

Keith

[R A Watson]

I think the answer is in the name, it is a FLANGE LUBRICATOR and is used to reduce the wear between the rail head side and the wheel flange, on the contact faces, to reduce the damage to, and need for remedial grinding of, both wheel and rai, prolonging the life of both components.

 

THis is especially important with the use of C W R these days as it is not as easy as it was to replace a few 60 foot sections of rail in the old days.

 

Wally

[11D]

When (and where even) did these things start being used?

[The Stationmaster]

When (and where even) did these things start being used?

 

There was one in use on our local branch line way back in the mid/late 1950s and I've an idea I have seen a reference to them in British use in a pre-war book on permanent way.

[Fat Controller]

When (and where even) did these things start being used?

I would suspect it would have been the mid-1960s when their widespread introduction started- prior to that, the lengthman would have carried a tub of grease, which served to lubricate any fishplates and points as well. It would have been the beginning of the '70s when one rather belatedly appeared on the L&MMR near Furnace School, six or more years after the 68ers replaced the 16xx panniers. Prior to that, we had to endure lengthy periods of extreme flange squeal each time a train went through the reverse curves. This was on track which had already been 'gauge-widened' by having the keys put on the opposite side to the norm.

[Will Vale]

I did a bit of searching using the names from the paper Dave posted. Here's what appears to be the QHI Lubricurve 50 manual, with full installation sequence and exploded CAD drawings at the end. The only information missing is dimensions, and it should be possible to gauge those from photographs pretty accurately.

 

http://extranet.artc.com.au/docs/engineering/tech_bulletins/type_appr/08-08-11-117_QHI_Rail_lubricurve50.pdf

 

I found some tank hubcaps which might do as the barrel ends, the rest would just be wire and scraps, so I'm a bit closer to making some of these!

 

Cheers,

 

Will

[Will Vale]

Quick note to say I've started making a test model - for more info see here: http://www.rmweb.co....nge-lubricator/

 

 

Thanks again for the confirmation and all the extra info - it made it really easy!

 

 

Will