Re: A 168 question

Jeff Taylor Wrote:
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> Couple of things here. 346s derailment on Kenosha
> pass had nothing to do with blind drivers. That
> was from excessive speed.(runaway) Any loco blind
> driver or not hitting a sharp curve like that at
> 20+mph would likely roll.
> Drgw called for the blind tires to be wider. This
> allows for them to stay on the rail over sharp
> curves or sections with gauge issues. I never
> really understood why or where this thought of
> blind driver causing more derailments. I do
> understand that if(like in the case of RGS 40) you
> drop the #4 driver, #3 and #2 will likely follow.
> This could cause more damaging and dangerous
> derailments than if all the drivers were flanged.
>

Case in point, blind drivers were extremely common, possibly much moreso than some folks realize. It's the sort of thing that's easy to miss since it's not always easy to notice in period photography. During the narrow gauge heyday period of 1870-1885 it's outright difficult to find 3- and 4-coupled-axle locomotives (moguls, consolidations, ten-wheelers, etc) that did NOT have blind drivers, regardless of gauge. They remained in use on large power later on, including many 2-10-2 types and the Union Pacific 4-12-2's. Some 2-10-0's had as many as three sets of blind drivers in the middle, and they stayed on the track.