Bogies

A pair of bogies sits underneath one of the heritage carriages at the Eveleigh Paint Shop, the steel-framed trucks that carry the carriage body on the rails. Each bogie holds four wheels in two axles, with leaf-spring suspension running between the axle boxes and the bolster above. The wheel treads are heavy steel, polished bright at the rolling surface and dark with brake-dust on the flanges. Brake rigging links each wheel to the air cylinder mounted on the bolster. The bolster itself supports the carriage body through a pivoting centre pin, with side bearers taking the side loads. The bogie frame is painted in the dark workshop standard, with traction motor housings visible on one of the bogies if it is from a power car.

Bogies on the NSW Government Railways suburban and interurban fleet evolved through several generations across the twentieth century, from the early timber-framed types of the steam era to the heavy steel-framed bolster-bogies of the electric stock. The pair in this photograph carries one of the heritage carriages held at the Paint Shop by Historic Electric Traction. Bogie maintenance was always one of the heaviest tasks for the workshop fitters: rolling stock had to be lifted clear of the bogies to give access to the axle boxes, the brake rigging, and the traction motors. The fittings here are mostly the originals.