<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .25in">At first glance, it seems appealing to suggest additional wheelsets under a given railcar type.&nbsp; From the track’s viewpoint, and in a simplistic analysis, trading a particular car’s four-axles for the use of six should allow half again more car weight.&nbsp; This paper will examine engineering efforts to test this concept over the past century.&nbsp; Indeed, the railway marketplace has investigated the three-axle truck in both the freight and passenger car arenas multiple times over the past century.&nbsp; Except in heavy-duty flatcars, the record shows that each implementation has proven to be only temporary in the North American market.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .25in">In general, three-axle freight trucks were developed for use with steam locomotive tenders in the early twentieth century.&nbsp; (On some heritage equipment, such tenders still see use.)&nbsp; The tender designs were then adapted to other car types.&nbsp; This happened over several decades, involving thousands of individual cars.&nbsp; In the twenty-first century, three-axle trucks are nearly extinct. &nbsp;This paper will address the history and status of three-axle freight trucks (or bogies) as used in North American freight railcar operations.&nbsp; Various past twentieth-century applications will be discussed.&nbsp;&nbsp; International three-axle offerings will be reviewed as well.&nbsp; The very limited and remaining current usage of three-axle trucks is also discussed.</p>

A North American Historical Review of Three-Axle Freight Trucks

Paper Proceedings: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/JRC/JRC2021/volume/84775

2021 Joint Rail Conference (JRC2021)

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