posted
not to long ago I seen a Hot-Box up close, while walking along the Rails, a Train came by, and I noticed a wheel steeming and smoking badly, also it smelled like rubber burning, it looked like it was heated alot, has any one else seen one up close?
------------------ JONATHON D. ORTIZ
Posts: 989 | From: DIAMOND BAR CA. U.S. | Registered: Nov 2003
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posted
Could just be heavy braking, especially with a rubber-like smell. I once reported an axle on a train for the same symptoms and that was what it turned out to be. Luckily the train was stopping anyway so it wasn't delayed.
Geoff M.
Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
It can be hard to tell whether a train is braking or not. Watch a train descend a heavy grade and you'll see smoke curling from the brake shoes even if it doesn't sound or otherwise look like it is braking.
A stuck brake shoe has the same effect.
Hot boxes do not affect the wheels. They affect the ends of the axles, where the axle meets the truck.
Tell us how it "looked hot" and where it was.
I am a little skeptical because (a) hot boxes are fortunately uncommon due to modern maintenance standards; and (b) your description doesn't really fit the profile of a hot box.
Geoff M.
Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
If you DID see a hotbox, you're very lucky. A problem the industry has had since the advent of roller bearings is that they heat up, and fail, very quickly -- say in less than 10 miles, often in only one or two miles. If there's a detector nearby, the failure will be caught, if not -- well, the axle burns off.
Fortunately bearing failures are quite rare, so even though they fail quickly, there are typically only 60 to 100 bearing-failure-caused derailments per year in the U.S.
Posts: 614 | From: Merchantville, NJ. USA | Registered: Aug 2000
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Jeez, got off the man. He is prolly right that he saw a hotbox. Ive seen them alot. Its not to rare of an occurance. Hell the Pacific Parlour had one around Great America.
Posts: 98 | From: Bakersfield, CA, USA | Registered: May 2004
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posted
It's not Jonathon-bashing, it's just trying to explain that they ARE a fairly rare event. The fact he changed his story to match the facts didn't exactly help us believe him.
If they were more common then you'd certainly hear about the after effects (derailments) - which you don't. Modern maintenance standards mean that this happens infrequently.
He may well have seen one, but in all likelyhood it wasn't for the reasons already given. I'll just leave it at that.
Geoff M.
Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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posted
I saw a real hotbox once in Santa Barbara.This was back in the 1960s.It was on a friction journal equipped tank car.There were actually flames coming out of the journal box. The car was set out on a siding and the train was but back together,and left.
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