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Taylor Flexible trucks
Developed ca.1930 by the Flexible Truck Co. of Reading, PA, the
Taylor truck allowed each side frame to rotate freely around
the bolster and spring package (32). This arrangement turned
out to be more impressive in theory than in practice, as con-
ventional trucks already provided enough flexibility to negoti-
ate even very uneven track. The only major railroad to adopt
Taylor Flexible trucks was the Reading; apparently the Taylor
brothers were well enough connected with Reading mechani-
cal officials that several batches of new cars for the Reading
were ordered in the late 1920s and early 1930s with Taylor
trucks. The Flexible Truck Co. soon disappeared, however, one
of many victims of the Great Depression.
32
32: In the Taylor Flexible truck, the side frames were
free to rotate around the bolster, springs, and spring
plank. This novel idea offered little advantage in practice,
however, so Taylor trucks were employed only briefly and
only by the Reading railroad.
Freight Car Trucks - 13
33
33-34: 50-ton and 70-ton versions of the National B-1
truck, a unique self-aligning truck which first eliminated
the heavy steel spring plank. National B-1s were widely
used by many railroads from the early 1930s through the
early 1950s.
34
National B-1 trucks
A much more successful innovation was the National Type
B-1 truck, introduced in 1931 by the National Malleable and
Steel Castings Co. (33 and 34). The bolster and side frames of
index contents
MRH-May 2013