![Bisselachse Russell](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Bisselachse_Russell.jpg)
A Bissell or Bissel truck (also Bissel bogie or Pony truck) is a single-axle
bogie which pivots towards the centre of a
steam locomotive
A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...
to enable it to negotiate curves more easily. Invented in 1857 by and usually then known as a ''pony truck'', it is a very simple and common means of designing a
carrying wheel
A carrying wheel on a steam locomotive is a wheel that is not driven; i.e., it is uncoupled and can run freely, unlike a coupled or driving wheel. It is also described as a running wheelWörterbuch der Industriellen Technik, Dr.-Ing. Richard Ernst, ...
.
Name variants
![4771 GREEN ARROW East Lancashire Railway (1)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/4771_GREEN_ARROW_East_Lancashire_Railway_%281%29.jpg)
A pony truck in
railway terminology
Rail terminology is a form of technical terminology. The difference between the American term ''railroad'' and the international term ''railway'' (used by the International Union of Railways and English-speaking countries outside the United Sta ...
, is a
leading truck
The leading wheel or leading axle or pilot wheel of a steam locomotive is an unpowered wheel or axle located in front of the driving wheels. The axle or axles of the leading wheels are normally located on a leading truck. Leading wheels are used ...
with only two wheels. Its invention is generally credited to Bissell, who devised one in
1857 and patented it the following year. Hence the term ''Bissel bogie'', ''Bissel truck'', or ''Bissel axle'' is used in continental
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. In the
UK, the term is
Bissell truck
A Bissell or Bissel truck (also Bissel bogie or Pony truck) is a single-axle bogie which pivots towards the centre of a steam locomotive to enable it to negotiate curves more easily. Invented in 1857 by and usually then known as a ''pony truck ...
.
[''Spellings"](_blank)
Conservative locomotive builders in Bissell's native
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
did not take to the new design, and it was not implemented until after the
Eastern Counties Railway
The Eastern Counties Railway (ECR) was an English railway company incorporated in 1836 intended to link London with Ipswich via Colchester, and then extend to Norwich and Yarmouth.
Construction began in 1837 on the first nine miles at the Lond ...
in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
fitted one to their No. 248 in 1859. Pony trucks of similar design became very popular on British locomotives thereafter.
Properties and use
![US62727-0](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/US62727-0.png)
A locomotive with a ''Bissell axle'' is able to both turn about its vertical axis and swing radially to the side, movements advantageous to steam locomotives because their position on the track is dictated by the
driving
Driving is the controlled operation and movement of a vehicle, including cars, motorcycles, trucks, buses, and bicycles. Permission to drive on public highways is granted based on a set of conditions being met and drivers are required to fol ...
or coupled wheels. The Bissel truck also helps stabilize a train in a turn, where
centrifugal force
In Newtonian mechanics, the centrifugal force is an inertial force (also called a "fictitious" or "pseudo" force) that appears to act on all objects when viewed in a rotating frame of reference. It is directed away from an axis which is paralle ...
causes a locomotive to lean away from the track. It features a pair of inclined planes which mate with an opposing set on the engine's frame where the two join. The more a truck moves to the side, the greater the lift to the outside of the locomotive, canting it slightly into the curve. Though the system was effective, casting and machining its sloping surfaces was expensive.
A refinement, the Hudson-Bissell truck, delivered the same result using less costly components. Instead of resting upon opposing planes, the engine frame is joined to the truck by two swing links. As the truck pivots sideways the outside of the locomotive is elevated, a practical modification used right to the end of the steam era.
Equalizing
Partly because load was not equalized between the Bissell pony truck and the leading
drivers, the pony truck did not become instantly popular in the US. Locomotives in the UK were generally not equalized, so it was not considered a problem there. John P. Laird was the first to attempt to equalize the pony truck with the drivers in 1857; he received a patent on the concept in 1866. Laird's design was complex and did not find favor, although he incorporated it on some locomotives he built or rebuilt, particularly on the
Marietta and Cincinnati Railroad
The Marietta and Cincinnati (M&C) was one of five important east-west railroads of southern Ohio; it was later absorbed by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O). Its original route ran from Marietta through Vincent, Athens, Hamden, Chillicothe, ...
and later the
Pennsylvania Railroad
The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
.
John H. Whetstone of Cincinnati, working for
Niles and Company
Niles may refer to:
Places
Places in the United States
* Niles, Fremont, California, a community that is now part of Fremont
* Niles, Illinois, a village
* Niles, Kansas, an unincorporated community
* Niles, Michigan, a city
* Niles, North Dakot ...
, was the next to devise a method for equalizing; in this scheme, the truck frame was itself the equalizing beam as well. Niles went bankrupt before the patent was granted, and no locomotive was ever fitted with this design.
![Bissel-Delta-141-R-1199](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/43/Bissel-Delta-141-R-1199.jpg)
A more successful scheme for equalizing the pony truck to the drivers was invented by William S. Hudson, superintendent of the
Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works
Rogers Locomotive and Machine Works was a 19th-century manufacturer of railroad steam locomotives based in Paterson, in Passaic County, New Jersey, in the United States. It built more than six thousand steam locomotives for railroads around the ...
, and patented in 1864. In this design, a large equalizing lever linked the front truck with a transverse bar connected to the front spring hangers of the driving wheels. This design was an immediate success and was used on American-built locomotives until the end of steam building.
Terminology
In the US, these trucks were known as lead trucks. A pony truck was the lead truck on a horse drawn rail car or trolley. A pony truck required a hitch to attach horses. The term, when applied to US steam locomotives after 1900, is considered archaic. Pony trucks are not quite analogous to an
articulated locomotive
An articulated locomotive is a steam locomotive (rarely, an electric locomotive) with one or more engine units that can move independent of the main frame. Articulation allows the operation of locomotives that would otherwise be too large to neg ...
.
The pony truck can move radially around a real or virtual pivot. When the pivot is situated at a point inside the truck, the truck is called a bogie. What makes it a Bissel bogie is the pivot being placed outside to the rear or fore.
Examples
Examples of steam engines fitted with Bissell trucks include the German
DRG Class 64
The Deutsche Reichsbahn had a standard passenger train tank engine with a wheel arrangement of 1'C1' (UIC classification) or 2-6-2 (Whyte notation) and a low axle load, which was designated in their classification system as the DRG Class 64 (''B ...
and
Class 99.73-76 locomotives. Some older
electric locomotives have Bissell trucks, if the driving axles are located in the main frame rather than the now usual bogies.
A British example was the
London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
0-4-2 tank locomotive
A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locom ...
which was known as a "Bissell tank" or "Bissell truck tank".
It was also used on the
South African Class 4E
The South African Railways Class 4E of 1952 was an electric locomotive.
Between 1952 and 1954, the South African Railways placed forty Class 4E electric locomotives with a 1Co+Co1 wheel arrangement in temporary service on the Natal mainline and ...
electric and
Class 32-000 and
32-200 diesel-electric locomotives.
See also
*
South African Class 32-000
The South African Railways Class 32-000 of 1959 was a diesel-electric locomotive.
Between November 1959 and November 1961, the South African Railways placed 115 Class General Electric type U18C1 diesel-electric locomotives with a 1Co+Co1 wheel ...
* ''
1Co+Co1
Under the British and Imperial classification scheme of locomotive axle arrangements, which is related to the UIC classification, 1Co+Co1 is a classification code for a locomotive wheel arrangement of two eight-wheeled bogies with an articulated ...
diesel-electric locomotive''
References
External links
''Bissel Bogie''a German article on the Bissel bogie — includes diagrams
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bissel Truck
Steam locomotive technologies
Bogie