Trailing stock: wheels and wheelsets. Conditions concerning the use of wheels of various diameters

Summary

This leaflet contains the conditions relating to the design and maintenance of wheels and wheelsets for coaches and wagons used on international services. It covers wheel diameters from 330 to 1 000 mm, and indicates the permissible axle loads from the standpoint of stresses of the metal used for the wheel and the rail.

It also stipulates the minimum wheel flange height according to wheel diameter:

To guarantee safe running when passing over fixed noses with a minimum tangent of 1/9 in plain obtuse crossings and obtuse crossings with slips in curves with a 450 m radius (which, from the point of view of running, are the most unfavourable points in the track), the leaflet also deals with the dimensions to be observed during construction, when laying the track, and for the maintenance of these crossings. In addition, it gives the permissible value, in service, of the angle of attack of the axle and the lateral force acting on the latter, valid for the range of wheel diameters from 330 to 840 mm. For wheels with diameters between 840 and 1 000 mm, the safety of which was warranted by current practice, no condition was laid down in this connection.

The conditions of this leaflet are valid for a nominal track gauge of 1 435 mm and cannot be readily transposed to apply to other track gauges.

ERRI document DG4 contains an overview of standardised subgroups and component parts.