Talk:Pony truck

Terminology

The article refers only to leading pony trucks. What about trailing pony trucks? Biscuittin (talk) 13:33, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Also, why pony truck? (I understand that 'truck' = bogie, from our American friends. Interesting then that the American Bissell should design a bogie!) EdJogg (talk) 22:51, 16 September 2008 (UTC)

Merger with Bissel bogie

When I created the Bissel bogie article (translated from German Wikipedia), I kept it separate from the one on the Pony truck because I wasn't sure they were exactly the same thing. My limited understanding is that a Bissel bogie is just one type of pony truck (albeit the original one) and that there are other types of pony truck, which are not Bissels. Of course that doesn't undermine the logic for merging the two because there is clearly a linkage and they're both short articles. We would just need to be clear about the distinction between the two in the new merged article. What do others think? Bermicourt (talk) 07:30, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

We also need to be certain of usage. I was aware of 'pony truck' from a young age, but 'Bissel bogie' only since editing a particular WP article... If 'pony truck' is more generic, that should be the title. EdJogg (talk) 13:54, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

So merge it all (including Trailing wheel, which is presumably some American monorail business) into one article, then split internally by sections. The crossover between trucks and bogies, ties between pony and leading, and how to spell Bissell can all be dealt with neatly in one place.

While we're at it, how about Adams axle and Cartazzi axle into a single article on Radial axles too. Andy Dingley (talk) 23:15, 8 April 2009 (UTC)

If someone has the knowledge to merge Bissel bogie with Pony truck without confusion that's fine. But I wouldn't add in trailing wheel (or leading wheel) because they're not the same type of thing. The former are technologies, the latter are to do with wheel arrangement (and part of a series including driving and coupled wheels).--Bermicourt (talk) 08:01, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

I'd like to see three articles, like this:

* Bogie (name?)

This would include all 4-wheel (and 6-wheel) bogies, where a "bogie" is considered as a multi-wheeled carriage with rigid frames in plan view, supporting a locomotive's main frames above. Booster engines could be mentioned, but Diesel locomotives and carriages would be separate.

* Radial axle

Including Adams, Cartazzi and other forms of sliding axlebox in a rigid frame.

* Pony truck (still pondering the name here?)

The two wheel trucks, including Bissel bogie, where there's some variety of single pivot. This would include leading and trailing.

These seem like the obvious categories, based on the number of axles and attachment to the frames. This seems more significant than leading/trailing for pony trucks. Most of those were on tank engines anyway, where reversibility was important. Andy Dingley (talk) 22:47, 12 April 2009 (UTC)

According to Jackson's Railway Dictionary a "pony truck" is "a single axle truck [=bogie] placed before or behind the driving wheels of a steam loco." and a "Bissell truck" [=Bissell bogie] is "a two or four-wheel radial truck in which the pivoting point is located at some distances from its transverse centre. Invented in US in 1857 by Levi Bissell." So I guess a single-axle Bissell truck is a special type of pony truck, but the 2 are not synonymous. --Bermicourt (talk) 10:31, 21 August 2010 (UTC)

Pony truck vs. Lead truck

In the early 70's, I was talking to Sam Chidester, a retired Pere Marquette Railway engineer and Herschal Christiansen, a retired Pere Marquette yard master. They would come out to MSU to give us advice on restoring the 1225. I mentioned that the pony truck axle on the 1225 needed turning. They both laughed and then informed me that "pony truck" was considered to be archaic and only applied to engines small enough to be pulled by ponies if they broke down or needed an assist going up hill. A true pony truck was set up to be pulled. With the advent of larger and heavier engines, the term lead truck was used, as the possibilities for pulling by horse were eliminated and modern couplers were placed at the front of the engine. Sam stated and Herschal agreed that someone who used the term "pony truck" would be laughed at by people working at the PMRY. Both agreed that the term was obsolete when they started working for the railroad in the early teens. I don't know how accurate what they told me was, but they were quite adamant. Sam stated that only non-railroad people used the term with a modern engine. It was still correct with an engine from the 1800's or if you were talking to a Canadian.

70.88.124.61 (talk) 11:54, 23 September 2009 (UTC)