Evening star., 1927-05-17
BALL BEARINGS GET
TRYOUT ON TRAINS
Railroad Engineers Forecast
New Era of Economy by
Their Use.
BY J. c. ROYLE.
Snecial Disnatch to The star.

Special Dispatch to The star.
NEW YORK. May IA new era
of lower operating costs and improved
traction is forecast for the railroad
business through the introduction Of
roller bearings on rolling stock, accord
ing to engineers who watched today
the preparations so to equip cars of
the Chicago. Milwaukee & st. Paul.
The early experiments will he con-
fined TO passenger trains, the first of
which will 90 into active operation be-
tween Chicago and Minneapolis and
st. Paul Saturday. Already, however,
tests .over long hauls are reported TO
have shown concluslveiy that TINS IN
novation is applicable to heavy freight
equipment II. Fl. Timken of Canton,
Ohio. one of the leaders in the bearing
industry. which with the advent of the
automobile became one of the chief ac-
cessories of motor car manufacture,
forecasts a great increase in freight
movement speed and a lowering of
o,orating costs as a result of adoption
OF the bearing principal to the rail
roads.
Railroads face something of the
same situation that confronted auto
mobiles back in 1905, when the first
motor carriage race ever held in this
country took place at Chicago" MIR
principle was then being first applied
in the automobile in it's early stage.
! remember six ears were entered in
that race over 53-mile course. Two
finished in the remarkable time of II
hours.
Played Big Part.
'Roller bearings in automobiles, as
in other machinery, have helped make
possible the strides in transportation
over the highways since that time.
Now railroads are taking advantage
of the same opportunities and are sure
to have a new success.
with bearing equipped cars. only
one-seventh of the power now used is
required TO start trains. There are no
jolts involved in starting and stopping.
This gives an operation absolutely
smooth. without jars and with re-
markable pickup after all stops.
The railroads have been confronted
with the problem of building larger
and still larger engines to draw their
trains, which have been growing
heavier all the time. The need for the
larger locomotives resulted mainly
from the need for power to overcome
the inertia of the train tonnage at the
start. Freight trains, compared with
passenger trains, have been slow and
cumberson and their size has been
limited by the power of the engine. |
When these difficulties have been re-
moved with roller bearings, speed will
be greater and operating costs less"
1t is figured by transportation en-
gineers that it requires 54.4 pounds
of tractiye effort per ton to move
standard passenger coach with old
style bearings The same coach
equipped with roller bearings, they
say. requires only 759/10O, 900 pounds
of tractive effort per ton. Two men
can pull heavy Pullman car equipped
with roller bearings.
Last Long Time.
The volume of business done by the
roller bearing manufacturers so far
has keen small, but nearly all lines
now are engaged in experiments with
this type of equipment and engineers
believe the advantages are such that
the change is inevitable. The bearings
developed specially for railroad use,
which are guaranteed in most cars for
1000, 600 miles, were produced only
after a long period of research.
H. Il. Byram. president of the ST.
Paul. says experiment has shown that
the new equipment will revolutionize
former ideas about smoothness of
operation. These trains, he says, will
slide into and out OF stations with
the smoothness of an ocean liner
leaving her dock. Tests have shown
that a standard Pacific type of loco
motive can handle a train of 81 cars
equipped with roller bearings as easi-
ly as 12-car train equipped with old
bearings, while at least 80 ball bearing
steel cars could be pulled at high-speed
by single standard locomotive.