Klien-Lindner Axles

Hi all,

I am trying to do a bit of research in to the Klien-Lindner articulated axle system.

I have done a bit of Google searching and found how it works, diagrams etc, but most of the reports / documentation seems to suggest that in general they were not particularly successful.

In fact, most places they were tried they appear to have been replaced quite quickly and were said to be unpopular, with particular referances made to the maintenance of the system and also the damage cause to the track.

From the articles I have found I am a little lost as to what controls the Klien-Lindner axles and stops the whole thing from wandering from side to side on straight track.

I am also lost as to how you would weigh a locomoitve which had these axles fitted.

Other than the Resita locomotives at Welshpool (and in Romania of course) and a couple of Feldbahn loco's that are about does anyone know of any others still running??

All comments greatfully received!

Richie.

 

It seems that the correct spelling is Klein-Lindner (not Klien), although Google throws up many entries with the incorrect spelling. I'm afraid I don't know any more than you about how they work, but maybe check on the W&LlR site to see if there's an email address for their CME?

 

I suggest you have a look at a copy of mark smithers book on the heywood railways this explains the articulation of what is in effect an identical system River irt on the ravenglass was fitted with the system as is James waterfeilds Ursula replica . there of course are a large numbrer of feldebahns around with the system fitted

 

Another loco fitted with the system is the Matheran 740 , but no longer running after removal from the Leighton buzzard railway, as i spent some time under the loco and on the footplate I can confirm nothing stops it from swaying from side to side. And if you can find any video of it on straight track you will see this. Which I think is why loco's fitted with it tend to have low speed limits to stop the fottplate crew from getting sea sick.
Hope this is of help

peter

 

The Heywood system was not the same as the Klein-Lindner one. The Heywood system allowed the middle wheelset to slide laterally as well as the outside wheelets adopting the shape of the curve. The middle wheelset was also linked to the two outside ones in the Heywood system. River Irt has a fixed wheelbase these days.

To stop the Klein-Lindner arrangement being too, wobbly the two outside wheelsets are linked by radial arms with centralising springs acting on them. It's not entirely successful, a speedy run in a straight line on a Feldbahn can make you feel a bit sea sick. Feldbahns were built for the rough track in the trenches though, which is probably the one situation where the system was really useful.

I would imagine the extra complexity and weight of the system outweighs the reduction in wear on the leading wheels, and the middle wheels make no attempt to adopt the shape of the curve so would still suffer a fair amount of tyre wear.

From what I’ve seen you can weigh them in the same way as any other loco.

Tim

 

Thanks to those who posted, much appreciated.

I think the ride and maintenance issues sound all to familiar!

Thanks again.

R.