It is our aim this afternoon to look into this question in so far as
the diameter of the wheel affects it, and in doing it we must consider
what liability there is to breakage or derangement of the parts of the
wheel, hot journals, bent axles, the effect of the weight of the wheel
itself, and the effect upon the track and riding of the car, handling
at wrecks and in the shop, the first cost of repairs, the mileage,
methods of manufacture, the service for which the wheel is intended
and the material of which it is made.
Confining ourselves to freight and passenger service, and to cast iron
and steel wheels in the general acceptation of the term as being the
most interesting, we know that cast iron is not as strong as wrought
iron or steel, that the tendency of a rotating wheel to burst is
directly proportional to its diameter, and that the difficulty of
making a suitable and perfect casting increases with the diameter.
Cast iron, therefore, would receive no attention if it were not for
its far greater cheapness as compared to wrought iron or steel. This
fact makes its use either wholly or in part very desirable for freight
service, and even causes some roads in this country, notably the one
with which I am connected, to find it profitable to develop and
perfect the cast iron wheel for use in all but special cases.
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