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Posted by David Sherman on Monday, May 04, 2009 at 09:52:06 :
In Reply to: Flat spots are quite common. posted by Chriscase on Monday, May 04, 2009 at 09:30:15 :
I think the wheels and the rails are case hardened these days. Once the wear breaks through the hard layer, it tends to make a deep hole pretty quickly. The rails look that way too, and of course a flat spot on a wheel is pretty hard on the track. What's a loaded rail car weigh these days? 500,000 lbs? It's a heck of a load on a small point of steel-steel contact, probably as much PSI as the points of contact in a wheel bearing, but without the benefit of grease or ground and polished surfaces.
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