New Tyres, Gibson Ring or 'Nip and Tuck'?

To start the new board, anyone care to enlighten on the 'Pros and Cons' and why you may have chosen a particular option on 'your' loco?

John. (re-tyring (sadly not retiring) this winter)

 

This topic being one in which my company is involved with; the main problem with the Gibson ring fixing, is that the correct rolled steel section required to produce the ring itself is no longer available.

The 'Double Snip'' fixing method was adopted by Bulleid himself, and is the method that we use. And in my own opinion, a far more reliable, robust and safer method.....well I would say that wouldn't I?

 

ian do you press them on with that massive press and turn them to profile/size

 

Nope, they are heated within certain perameters to expand then, then fitted to the wheels, and alowed to cool in 'still air', the press is for pressing wheels to axles.

 

Ian reckons

While on a visit to the SDR Rob Lechavlier mentioned he had just bought a large stock of the correct profile steel.

Ok he had to order alot of it.. but no doubt with the amount of work comiing in and no doubt one day Llangollens Gibson ring roller coming into action it will get used.

Untortunatley once you have changed from Gibson to nip and tuck you cannot go back to Gibson.

With 5199 requiring a retyre over the winter we would rather stick with Swindon way of doing things

 

Theyve just fitted the first new tyre to 3205 today which included pressing the gibson ring in! Rather a lot of bullied wheels on site at moment too just shame we dont have the whole engine!

 

Is there any chance of an 'idiots guide' explaination to both of these methods?

 

Heres a page on gibson rings! http://www.southdevonrailway.org/Railway-Wheels.html

 

Just as a matter of interest, I have been helping with Bellerophon at foxfield, and being an 1870's built loco, the tryes are not shrink fitted.

Although the wheels look fairly conventional, the 'rim' of the wheel is 'V' cut in a number of places to relieve the wheel diameter. Once tyre is is slid into place wedges are driven in to effectivly expand the outer diameter and grip the tyre!!!!

I don't think it worked ALL that well as most of the wedges have long since been welded in... and I suspect she's lost tyres at some point in her life!!! However after 133 years of use, they can't be that bad...

Certainly would not like to use it on a mainline loco doing any speed, but interesting concept!!!

 

Are you sure that this is true? Shrinking on of tyres by heating had been the norm since the earliest days of locomotives. Manning Wardle (and other builders) used to do wheels like this but I always understood it was because of the casting process. When casting a ring with spokes it is quite a difficult process and to avoid cracking of the rim they used to be split into four sections. The gap was then cleaned up and an insert fitted in. On the Mannings the inserts are pretty much parallel. The tyre was then shrunk on and, in the case of our Mannings, secured by studs through the rim and tyre. I'm quite happy to be told I'm wrong,though!

 

Ian, I would be curious to know what make of wheel lathe you have?

 

a big one i tell you that its facinating to see very clever

 

I typed 'A big one' wheel lathes into google nothing came up?

 

hahaha

 

Well after many years of worrying about tyres flying off, now I know the secret.Having served my time as a patternmaker at steel foundries in Bolton, heavy engineering is still in the blood I can still smell the burning sand as the metal was being poured into the moulds.But one problem solved just, "begets" another one as they say in the bible. Can some one please explain how the "double snip" or "nip and tuck" works?. I'm sorry Ian you need to keep up with the times and at the moment "green" is the buzzword so the "lean green jubilee machine" is back were she belongs ---- up front. !!.