Heavy haul bogies
Sir - The Leader in your May issue (RG 5.97 p 267) concerning high axleloads for heavy haul railways mentions ’the unending search for the ideal wheel-rail interface’. This subject was addressed in detail in my paper titled Review of Freight Car Bogie Design and Performance presented to the IHHA Bogie Conference in Montreal last year.
Modern passenger trains, such as the Eurostar and the British InterCity 125 and 225, have bogies designed for the specific service requirements and are capable of providing excellent performance. Equally, high axleload freight cars in heavy haul service, both bulk commodity and intermodal, need bogies purpose-designed to meet the requirements of this particular duty.
In my paper, I listed the performance requirements of the ideal freight car bogie as follows:
