Train wheels

hotboxaerox

anyone know what becomes or where scrap or old train wheels end up or where 1 or 2 wheels might be gotten from?
im thinking of trying inchicore works but any other ideas?

Cookie_Monster

what do you want a 1 tonne wheel for?

At a guess they get melted down and recast or simply abandoned on a siding somewhere (as a wheel and axle set)...

Tails142

hotboxaerox wrote: »

anyone know what becomes or where scrap or old train wheels end up or where 1 or 2 wheels might be gotten from?
im thinking of trying inchicore works but any other ideas?

Scrap value would be quite high, they are probably recast/recycled if they don't infact last for years

hotboxaerox

hmmm balls to that idea so, had not thought they were a ton now i expected about 2-300 kg alright. I was wondering if they would be a suitable flywheel for a project.

dmcronin

Might be better off to get a wheel from an old piece of farm machinery, e.g. horse drawn float/mowing machine/wheel rake...or try a vintage sale/rally, plenty lads use small-ish cast iron wheels under their paraffin engines and may have a couple in reserve. You wouldn't be able to lift a railway wagon wheel, plus wheels and axle are all one piece AKAIK.

jmrc

Flywheel, as DMC suggest fram machinery would be a good starting place, but the wheel might not be that balanced, or a truck breakers, I'm sure they might be able to source something?

dmcronin

Or one of those vintage engine guys might well have a flywheel off a banjaxed engine...there are a few vintage bring-and-buy type sales that things like that turn up at, usually during the winter/spring months before the rally season gets going.

Losty Dublin

When you add on the axle, brake discs and any attached driving gears you are not far off the the 4 ton mark. Irish Rail engineer their wheels in Limerick as well as Inchicore but given the weight and cost in a wheel set, they are kept and used for as long as possible before being sold for recycling.

Where you to obtain one you'd need one hell of an engine and shaft setup to turn it into a flywheel, OP; the agri suggestions is probably a better one.

steamengine

Try and source a scrapyard that has an old dumper, cement mixer, water pump etc. These items generally used single cylinder diesel engines eg Lister, with a flywheel which would be about the weight you're looking for. They are usually secured on the shaft by a taper or parallel key and once that's removed it should be handy enough to remove with a suitable set of pullers. The engine could be totally banjaxed but flywheels don't wear out - bring plenty of 'Lusol' or WD40 to penetrate any rust.

hotboxaerox

the flywheel in question would be getting used on a college project for a dynamometer and a 80hp motorcycle will not hang about in spinning up a train wheel to their max speed of 800rpm (wheel dependant, but thats for 120kph and assuming 33" diam).

i realise there would be serious weight issues and dont expect to just pick this up by hand and walk off, id be needing something damn heavy and the likes of an automotive flywheel even that off a large artic truck wont have the Inertia needed for this project.

just taking a quick gander at the inchicore yard on google maps its obvious there is wheelsets strewn about the place so surely between there or the drogheda plant (i think?) there must be an oul wheel somewhere!?

Losty Dublin

As I said, wheels are used till they can be used no more and then are sold for scrap/recycling.

I'd not trust Google maps too much but all means contact the CMO's office and make an offer; don't be shocked if it will cost you a few bucks.

Judgement Day

Ask yer man up in Dromod if he can spare you one off 'his' crocked steam engine.

Victor

Judgement Day wrote: »

Ask yer man up in Dromod if he can spare you one off 'his' crocked steam engine.

Lets not go there.

hotboxaerox

Losty Dublin wrote: »

As I said, wheels are used till they can be used no more and then are sold for scrap/recycling.

I'd not trust Google maps too much but all means contact the CMO's office and make an offer; don't be shocked if it will cost you a few bucks.

i know il get onto them during the week and the alternative to this is easily gonna set me back 3-400 quid either way so it not gonna be cheap whatever way i go.