Why Trains don't use Rubber Tyres - Budd & Micheline Railcars

In today's video, we take a look at Michelin's attempt to get into the railway game by giving railcars rubber wheels and why that's not such a great idea.

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This video falls under the fair use act of 1976.
This video is available to use under the appropriate Creative Commons Licence.
Any images used that fall under any Creative Commons Licence belong to their respective owners.

Picture & Information References:

The Engineer
National Railway Museum Collection
Commercial Motor Archive

Chapters:
0:00 [SurfShark]
1:24 [Intro]
1:54 [Michelin]
3:25 [First Railcars]
4:51 [Tests in Britain]
6:23 [Budd Railcars]
8:39 [Problems with using Rubber]
12:09 [Legacy]

[NitroIndigo]

"He should be retired."
"But he doesn't have tyres!"

[mrvikingmcall]

Remember that British Rail HST commercial that said “When did you last see a train with a puncture?”

[randomnickify]

Missed opportunity to mention Eschede train disaster from 1998 - where attempt of bringing back compound steel/rubber wheels end up in one of the deadliest train disasters in Europe.

[primrosevale]

“What ugly wheels you’ve got.”

“They’re not ugly, they’re Michelin!”

[ZontarDow]

The Montreal Metro is dependent on its rubber tired trains because the gradients it uses are too steep for steel wheels without a fourth rail with grooves to assist, but that would dramatically slow it down.

[telhudson]

The limiting factor in acceleration of trains is not the adhesion of steel on steel but passenger comfort. It is expected that passengers can walk around in a railway carriage. Consequently acceleration is normally limited to about 1/20 g. (1 mph/second) Steel wheels can easily achieve 1/10 g. If you have ever been standing in a carriage when the driver makes an emergency brake application, you'll know exactly what I mean.

[QLDrailfan]

Man I love being a Latvian businessman using surf shark to watch restricted content on YouTube

[ComengProductions]

the surfshark ad is golden! Hornby and Bachmann know all about rubber tyres on trains!

[TonyFleetwood]

When I was at the Illinois Railway museum they had a car with rail tires on it. I took as many pics as i could because nobody ever talks about them!

[michaelwright]

Perhaps worth mentioning the Paris Metro, which converted some lines to rubber tyres after WW 2. The advantages of quick acceleration and braking, and quiet running, would seem especially useful for a commuter line, and maximum speed isn't very high. Rubber dust everywhere would be a particular problem in tunnels, though.

[schniemand]

Steel's efficiency has nothing to do with slipperiness. This is a painfully common error in education/edutainment and misleads a lot of people.
You use the word "friction" to refer to both "adhesion" and "rolling resistance", apparently confusing the two which have basically nothing to do with each other.
Good adhesion doesn't waste energy, it's what lets you accelerate and brake. Steel on steel actually has pretty good adhesion most of the time.
High rolling resistance is what just wastes energy. It mostly comes from the periodic deformation of the wheel while rolling. Steel doesn't deform like inflated rubber.

[ImperatorZor]

Train of Thought must be happy that he could not only find images but film footage.

[romad]

The Paris Metro uses rubber tires and is much quieter than either the London Underground or the NYC Subway trains.

[catvoncrimson]

Nice to see that there are modern day uses of rubber tire trains such as my local airport train.

[Zy]

The picture of the Silver Slipper at 8:15 is actually taken on the Reading Railroad. The Budd Company was native to Philadelphia, which was also the headquarters of the Reading and the Pennsylvania, probably one of the reasons why both were so ready to buy in so early. The Reading, in particular, was the railroad primarily used by Budd for factory deliveries and initial testing of equipment.

Many pictures of Budd equipment can be found on the Reading system, even if they were not intended for use on the Reading. There are rather famous pictures of the Budd Metroliner and Silverliner-both intended for the Pennsylvania Railroad and painted/signed as such-on Carpenter Siding at Jenkintown. Pictures of the Rio Grande's Prospector at West Trenton station also exist. The exceptionally straight, level, and fast, New York Division between Jenkintown and West Trenton was the preferred Budd test track, especially after the move to new, larger, facilities at Red Lion Road, which was directly alongside said route.

The reason that the picture of the Silver Slipper can be identified as being on the Reading is because of the catenary support on the left-hand side of the picture, especially the angled support between the horizontal and vertical steel I-beams. That is very much a Reading electrification hallmark.

Interestingly, the New Hope branch left the Bethlehem Division at Glenside station (technically CARMEL Interlocking a bit beyond it), which is the next station after Jenkintown, about two miles away. The Reading's railcar, however, would not have usually seen service at Glenside. 1931 was when the Reading inaugurated electric service, and the New Hope branch was included as far as Hatboro station (the last station in Montgomery County), with New Hope service generally being a shuttle from there through Bucks County, which rather quickly got a bit more rugged and therefore less suitable for suburbanization.

Incidentally, the accent is on "New" instead of "Hope". NEW Hope. Just a local quirk.

[kenharris]

One good thing is that rubber tyres can be recycled, and condoms can even be made from old tyres. They can get three hundred and sixty-five condoms from a Good Year.
Thanks for another great presentation.

[lukechristmas]

I vaguely remember seeing photos of some of these Michelin railcars but I never knew the reason as to why they looked so automobile-like or that they had rubber tyres. A very incredible design for its time!

[BandanRRChannel]

Considering how poorly received the Budd cars were, it's just a little surprising railroads continued to try their products afterwards. But considering those followup products, like the Pioneer Zephyr and its derivatives, were absolute smash hits, it's a good thing they did.

[swayingGrass]

recurring correction: while a wheel deforming generates more grip due to larger contact area, the grip is what effects rolling resistance. It is the not-100% efficiency of the wheel deforming and un-deforming.
If you think for a second, a non-slipping wheel would have 0 speed difference between it and the rail/road, making grip a non-factor.

[BHuang]

How about covering the 5AT Advanced Technology Steam Locomotive?