Part II – Safety Defects

Part II contains those safety defects which, when present, prohibit a railway company from placing or continuing a freight car in service.

9. Wheels

9.1 A railway company shall not place or continue a car in service if:

a wheel rim, flange, plate or hub area has a crack or break. Heat checks or chips in a wheel rim are not considered to be cracks or breaks;
a wheel has a chip or gouge in the flange more than 1 ½ inches (38.10 mm) in length and ½ inch (12.70 mm) in width;
a wheel has a shelled spot that is more than 1 ¼inch (31.75 mm) in width and 1 ½inches (38.10 mm) in length;
a wheel has a slid flat spot that is more than 2 ½ inches (63.50 mm) in length or two adjoining flat spots each of which is more than 2 inches (50.80 mm);
a wheel shows evidence of being loose;
a wheel flange is worn to a thickness of 7/8 inches (22.22 mm) or less at a point 3/8 inches (9.52 mm) above the tread of the wheel;
the height of a wheel flange from the tread to the top of the flange is more than 1 ½ inches (38.10 mm);
the thickness of a wheel rim is 11/16 inches (17.4 mm) or less;
a straight plate wheel has:
1. a blue or reddish brown discoloration on the front and back face of the plate that extends more than four inches (101.60 mm) into the plate;
2. a combination of heat discoloration on the rim and plate with a rim thickness of 1 ¼ inches (31.75 mm) or less;
3. any visible tread defects with a rim thickness of 1 ¼ inches (31.75 mm) or less; or
4. 1 inch (25.40 mm) or less of rim thickness); or
a wheel is the wrong size.

10. Axles

10.1 A railway company shall not place or continue a car in service if:

an axle has a crack or is bent or broken;
a journal shows evidence of overheating;
a plain bearing axle has:
1. a cracked or broken end collar; or
2. a groove, pitting, rusting or etching on the surface of the journal; or
an axle is the wrong size.

11. Roller Bearings and Adaptors

11.1 A railway company shall not place or continue a car in service if:

a roller bearing shows signs of having been overheated;
a roller bearing has damaged external parts that are visibly cracked, broken or bent;
a freight car involved in a derailment has not had its bearings inspected according to the procedures outlined in the latest edition of the Field Manual of the AAR Interchange Rules;
a roller bearing has:
1. missing or loose cap screw;
2. a broken, missing or improperly applied locking plate; or
3. a backing ring that is loose or damaged when car is on a repair track;
a roller bearing is the wrong size; or
a roller bearing is losing grease to the extent that fresh grease is spread across the truck side frame and the seal is loose, cocked or damaged.

11.2 A railway company shall not place or continue a car in service if a roller bearing adapter is missing, cracked, broken, out of place or the wrong size.

12. Plain Bearings

12.1 A railway company shall not place or continue a car in service if:

a journal bearing lubrication system has any of the following conditions:
1. a journal bearing box has no visible free oil;
2. a journal bearing box contains foreign matter that can damage the bearing or affect the lubrication of the journal and the bearing;
3. a journal bearing box lid is missing;
4. a lubricating pad is missing, not in contact with the journal or the wrong size;
5. a lubricating pad is scorched, burnt or glazed;
6. a lubricating pad contains fabric in such a condition that it impairs proper lubrication of the pad; or
7. a lubricating pad has metal parts contacting the journal;
a journal bearing:
1. is missing, broken, out of place or wrong size;
2. has a crack in the back or lug portion;
3. on which the lining is loose, has a piece broken off; or
4. is overheated, as evidenced by melted lining; or
a journal wedge is missing, broken, out of place, or the wrong size.

13. Trucks

13.1 A railway company shall not place or continue a car in service if:

a side frame or bolster:
1. is broken;
2. has a crack of ¼ inch (6.3 mm) or more in the transverse direction of a tension member, except that shrinkage cracks or hot tears that do not significantly reduce the strength of the bolster or side frame shall not be considered cracked;
a truck is equipped with an ineffective damping mechanism as indicated by:
1. a side frame column wear plate missing (except by design), or broken to the extent that it no longer performs it design function;
2. a broken or missing activating side spring;
3. truck springs that show evidence of not maintaining travel or load;
4. hydraulic snubbers with an accumulation of wet fluid and fluid is not visible in the sight glass if so equipped;
5. truck springs compressed solid;
6. truck springs on which more than one of the outer springs in any spring cluster are broken, out of place or missing; or
7. a friction wedge is missing, broken to the extent that it becomes non functional or worn beyond the wear indicator.
the truck side bearings:
1. have part of the assembly missing, out of place or broken;
2. are in contact with the body side bearing on both sides at one end of the car, unless intended by design;
3. while on level track, are in contact with the body side bearings at diagonally opposite sides of the car, unless intended by design;
4. at one end of the car have a total clearance from the body side bearing of more than ¾ inches (19.05 mm); or
5. at diagonally opposite sides of the car, have a total clearance from the body side bearing of more than ¾ inches (19.05 mm); or
6. when more than one constant contact side bearing is not making contact.
there is interference between the truck bolster and the centre plate, or the body bolster and the truck side frame, which prevents proper truck rotation;
a brake beam support is worn to the extent that it does not support the brake beam; or
a truck is designed with a spring plank, but the spring plank is missing, broken, bent to the extent that it no longer performs its design function or incorrectly installed.

14. Car Bodies

14.1 A railway company shall not place or continue a car in service if:

any portion of the freight car body, truck or their appurtenances (except wheels) has less than 2 ½ inches (63.50 mm) clearance from the top of the rail;
the car centre sill or stub sill is:
1. broken;
2. cracked more than 6 inches (152.40 mm); or
3. permanently bent or buckled more than 2 ½ inches (63.50 mm) in any 6 foot (1.83 m) length;
the car has a stub sill attachment with a crack greater than 6 inches;
the tank car stub sill:
1. is broken
2. has any crack in the parent metal;
3. has a transverse weld that is cracked more than 3 inches (76.2 mm) or is missing;
4. has a longitudinal weld that is cracked more than 6 inches (152.40 mm) or is missing; or
5. has a weld that is cracked or missing, where the total length cannot be measured;
6. is bulged; more than 1 1/2 inch in any 3 foot length.
the car has a side sill cracked more than 6 inches (152.40 mm) when the car is not equipped with a full centre sill;
the car has a broken cross bearer or body bolster;
the car has a coupler carrier that is:
1. broken;
2. missing; or
3. non-resilient, and the coupler has a type F head;
the car body has been improperly positioned on the truck;
it has a centre plate that:
1. is improperly secured, with more than 25% of the fasteners missing and/or the centre plate observed to have moved;
2. is broken; or
3. has two or more cracks through its cross section thickness at the edge of the plate extending into the portion of the plate that is obstructed from view while the truck is in place;
it is a box car which has:
1. more than one door stop missing or broken per door;
2. safety hangers missing or inoperative on sliding or plug doors so equipped;
3. a sliding or plug type doors off the rails;
4. a plug type door not closed;
5. a plug type door with not less than 60% of the locks fully engaged; or
6. door rail supports cracked or broken to the extent that they do not perform their design function;
it is a hopper car which has a bottom gate off the track or unsecured such that it could fall off;
it is a loaded car with lading restraining devices worn or damaged to the extent that those devices will not restrain the load;
an object extends from the side of a car body except by design;
a car is not loaded in accordance with the prevailing “AAR General Rules Governing the Loading of Commodities on Open Top Cars”, or a circular of the Railway Association of Canada; or
the car has any object which is not secured and could fall off.

15. Couplers and Drawbars

15.1 A railway company shall not place or continue a car in service if:

the car is equipped with a coupler shank that is bent out of alignment to the extent that the coupler will not couple automatically;
the car has a coupler knuckle that is broken or cracked on the inside pulling face of the knuckle, except that shrinkage cracks or hot tears that do not significantly reduce the strength of the knuckle shall not be considered cracked;
the car has a knuckle pin that is missing or broken;
the car has a thrower that is inoperative;
the car has a coupler retaining pin lock that is missing or broken;
the car has a coupler with an inoperative lock lift or a coupler assembly that does not have anti-creep protection to prevent unintentional unlocking of the coupler lock;
the coupler lock is missing, inoperative, bent, cracked or broken;
the car has a coupler that has a crack as identified in the latest edition of the Field Manual of AAR Interchange Rules , except that shrinkage cracks or hot tears that do not significantly reduce the strength of the coupler shall not be considered cracked;
the coupler heights between two adjacent freight cars vary in excess of 4 inches (101.6 mm);
it is equipped with a solid drawbar:
1. that is cracked more than 2 inches or;
2. that has a missing pocket casting support or;
3. that has a missing or broken primary pin.
it is equipped with an articulated car connector:
1. attachment weld cracked greater than 4”;
2. casting crack greater than 2”;
3. primary pin tipped, broken or not properly seated;
4. retaining pin broken, missing or not engaging primary pin;
5. retaining pin securement missing; or
6. wedge retaining bolts broken or missing.

16. Draft Arrangements

16.1 A railway company shall not place or continue a car in service if:

the car has a draft gear that is inoperative;
the car has a broken yoke;
a vertical coupler pin retainer plate:
1. is missing (unless intended by design); or
2. has more than 25% of the fasteners either loose or missing;
the car has a draft key or draft key retainer that is:
1. inoperative;
2. missing; or
3. broken;
the car has a follower plate missing or broken to the extent that it no longer performs its design function;
the draft gear carrier plate is missing or has more than 25% of the fasteners loose or missing;
a draft stop is missing or broken to the extent that it no longer performs its design function; or
a car cushioning unit is broken, inoperative, or missing a part, except where its sliding parts have been effectively immobilized.

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Part II – Safety Defects