I have been watching the Great British Railway Journeys with Michael Portillo, and have noticed that almost all of the trains for which it is possible to see the bogies have very large air springs. Either that or they have extremely large blocks of rubber or other elastic substance poised in the suitable spot.

I have also during the past few years travelled from Banora Point south to Sydney by train – if possible the sleeper. Very noticeable is the constant squeaking from the bogie suspension, presumably due to metal rubbing on metal. One of the important points about the PCC design was that so far as possible metal to metal rubbing was eliminated. This, in combination with the resilient or super-resilient wheel, and the hypoid gearing, was what gave the PCC its silence at speed.

I have often wondered what would be the result of replacing the existing sleeper bogies with trailer bogies as supplied to the Millennium cars. I suspect that the cars would be much quieter and there would be a better ride. A lot depends on the track of course, and it was very noticeable that from the start of the Newcastle suburban area to the south, the riding was far better, and the squeaking almost eliminated. Even at the flat out speeds over the section west of Broadmeadow, the cars rode better and were quieter than at the lazy jog-trot on the far northern sections of the line. I doubt that it would be worth while to use resilient wheels, although the ICE cars in Germany use these.

Query, are the XPT cars really in such poor condition that they have to be replaced? Is the steelwork so rusted/fatigued that they must go? Can they not be reused for branch line services, with air sprung bogies, in a similar manner to the reuse of the Harris cars in Victoria?

Regards

Dudley