page_title: Bissel truck
section_title: Properties and use
hierarchical_section_title: Bissel truck / Properties and use
caption_attribution_description: English: Improved car truck, Bissel truck Deutsch: Bisselgestell
context_page_description: A Bissell or Bissel truck is a single-axle bogie which pivots towards the centre of a steam locomotive to enable it to negotiate curves more easily. Invented in 1857 by Levi Bissell and usually then known as a pony truck, it is a very simple and common means of designing a carrying wheel.
context_section_description: A locomotive with a Bissell axle is able to both turn about its vertical axis and swing radially to the side, movements advantageous to steam locomotives because their position on the track is dictated by the driving or coupled wheels.  The Bissel truck also helps stabilize a train in a turn, where centrifugal force causes a locomotive to lean away from the track.  It features a pair of inclined planes which mate with an opposing set on the engine's frame where the two join.  The more a truck moves to the side, the greater the lift to the outside of the locomotive, canting it slightly into the curve. Though the system was effective, casting and machining its sloping surfaces was expensive. 
  A refinement, the Hudson-Bissell truck, delivered the same result using less costly components.  Instead of resting upon opposing planes, the engine frame is joined to the truck by two swing links. As the truck pivots sideways the outside of the locomotive is elevated, a practical modification used right to the end of the steam era.
caption: Drawing from Patent US62727[4]
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