Santa Fe Bx-37 and Plain Bearing ASF Spring Plankless Truck

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 15, 1941, The Sirman Collection

The genesis of this post was to illustrate the journal packing material in a plain bearing* truck. However, I also identified that the car that had toppled on to its side was a Santa Fe Bx-37, and I decided to combine the two things into a single post.

The Bx-37 class was the largest single class of forty-foot steel box cars on the Santa Fe, with 5,010 copies. The cars were constructed by Pullman-Standard in 1941-1942. They were assigned to series 141301-144310 (1941) and 145500-147499 (1942). The cars followed the design of the Modified 1937 AAR box car (a taller version of the 1937 AAR design, with an inside height between 10'4" and 10'6".) However, the cars included many subtleties that collectively made them uniquely Santa Fe in nature. These are called out in the photo. Most of these cars rode on National Type B trucks, as shown on ATSF 143478. However, some used ASF-supplied trucks like the one in the wreck highlighted here.

John W. Barriger III National Railroad Library

The photo of the cast steel sideframe spring plankless truck is included to illustrate the packing material used to facilitate lubrication. This material was placed at the bottom of the journal boxes and was soaked in lubricant. The oil lubricant was transferred to the journals as the trucks rolled, providing lubrication to the moving surfaces. At various places on railroads, usually at yards, oil was added to the journal boxes. The material was repacked at intervals, usually around 12 months, and the repacking stencil was updated to reflect this, with the location, railroad, and date stenciled on the car. These were easily discernible on a dirty car as they were small patches of fresh paint with clean stencils (usually white.)

The detailed truck photo illustrates the repacking data. It is from a Seaboard Air Line 1932 ARA box car, class B 6. It was built in December, 1934 and the journals were repacked at Portsmouth, Virginia, on January, 30, 1936. The type used reflect the era. It is highly ornate and stylized, even for such tiny lettering. Of course, this “flourish” would not really be discernible for such small characters rendered in HO scale.

*please refrain from calling plain bearing trucks “friction” bearing trucks. The modifier “friction” was likely the brainchild of the marketing team at Timken, Fafnir, et al to denigrate existing technology and create a perceived need for their own products. Granted, roller bearings are more efficient, but to imply that plain bearings induced undue amounts of friction is not really true. If kept lubricated, plain bearings rolled well. Roller bearings simply required less maintenance and were more efficient at starting.