Part II contains those safety defects which, when present, prohibit a railway company from placing or continuing a passenger car in service.
9. Wheels
9.1 A railway company may 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 more than 1-1/2 inches (38.1 mm) in length and 1/2 inch (12.7 mm) in width;
- a wheel has a shelled spot that is more than 1-1/4 inches (31.8 mm) in width and 1-1/4 inches (31.8 mm) in length;
- a wheel has a slid flat that is more than 2 inches (50.8 mm) in length;
- a wheel shows evidence of being loose;
- a wheel flange is worn to a thickness of 7/8 inches (22.2 mm) or less at a point 3/8 inches (9.5 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 1-1/2 inches (38.1 mm);
- the thickness of a wheel rim is 7/8 inches (22.2 mm) or less;
- a straight plate wheel has:
- i. a blue or reddish brown discoloration on the front and back face of the plate that extends more than 4 inches (101.6 mm) into the plate;
- ii. a combination of heat discoloration on the rim and plate with a rim thickness of 1-1/4 inches (31.8 mm) or less;
- iii. any visible tread defects with a rim thickness of 1-1/4 inches (31.8 mm) or less; or
- iv. 1 inch (25.4 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 or axle shows evidence of overheating or welding; or
- an axle is the wrong size.
11. Roller Bearings
11.1 A railway company may not place or continue a car in service if:
- an axle shows signs of having been overheated;
- a roller bearing has damaged external parts that are visibly cracked, broken or bent;
- a passenger car involved in a derailment has not had its bearings inspected according to the procedures outlined in the "Association of American Railroads Field Manual" (AAR) Rule 36;
- a roller bearing has:
- i. a missing, broken, or loose cap screw, or improperly applied end cap;
- ii. a broken, missing or improperly applied locking plate;
- iii. a backing ring that is loose or damaged;
- a roller bearing is the wrong size or has been submerged; or
- a roller bearing is losing grease to the extent that fresh grease is spread across the truck side frame.
12. Trucks
12.1 A railway company may not place or continue a car in service if:
- a side frame or bolster:
- i. is broken;
- ii. has a crack of 1/4 inch (6.4 mm) or more in the transverse direction on a tension member. Shrinkage cracks or hot tears that do not significantly reduce the strength of the bolster or side frame shall not be considered cracked;
- iii. has a broken or cracked pedestal; or
- iv. has a missing or broken pedestal tie strap or retainer key.
- the car has a truck with:
- i. a truck equalizer broken or missing;
- ii. more than one coil spring broken or missing in any spring cluster;
- iii. interference between the truck bolster and the centre plate that prevents free truck rotation;
- iv. a brake beam hanger cracked, broken or missing;
- v. any crack in an equalizer bar;
- vi. any crack in a swing hanger, and/or a missing locking pin;
- vii. any missing suspension and/or attachment pins for brake rigging; or
- viii. a primary, vertical, lateral and rotational damper missing and/or not secured properly.
- the truck side bearings:
- i. have part of the assembly missing, out of place or broken;
- ii. are in contact with the body side bearing on both sides at one end of the car, unless intended by design;
- iii. while on level track, are in contact with the body side bearings at diagonally opposite sides of the car, unless intended by design;
- iv. at one end of the car have a total clearance from the body bolster of more than 3/4 inches (19 mm); or
- v. at diagonally opposite sides of the car, have a total clearance from the body bolsters of more than 3/4 inches (19 mm).
13. Car Bodies
13.1 A railway company may not place or continue in service a passenger car where:
- the car structure or shell is all wood or a combination of wood and steel (this does not apply to ply metal interior finishing or plywood sub-flooring);
- any portion of the car body, under-car equipment, trucks, excepting wheels or their appurtenances has less than a 2 1/2 inch (63.5 mm) clearance from the top of rail when fully loaded including passengers and baggage;
- any attachments for under-car equipment are loose, broken or missing;
- propane cylinders are not properly secured in their cabinet;
- the car centre sill is:
- i. broken;
- ii. cracked more that 6 inches (152.4 mm); or
- iii. permanently bent or buckled more than 2-1/2 inches (63.5 mm) in any 6 foot (1.8 m) length;
- a side sill is cracked more than 6 inches (152.4 mm) when the car is not equipped with a full centre sill;
- the car has a broken, cross bearer or body bolster;
- the car body has been improperly positioned on the truck;
- the car has a centre plate that:
- i. is improperly secured, with more than 25% of the fasteners missing and/or the centre plate observed to have moved;
- ii. is broken; or
- iii. 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; or
- a car side door does not open or close, a double door does not have at least one section that opens and closes, and end door that does not open;
- cable and jumper connections between cars have:
- i. broken or badly chafed insulation;
- ii. broken plugs, receptacles , receptacle covers or terminals; or
- iii. broken or protruding strands of wire.
14. Couplers
14.1 A railway company may not place or continue in service a passenger car where:
- 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. 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 or thrower that is missing or 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 a safety pin and anti-creep protection to prevent unintentional unlocking of the coupler lock;
- the coupler lock is missing, inoperative, bent, cracked or broken; or
- the car has a coupler that has a crack in the area of the shank and head. Shrinkage cracks or hot tears that do not significantly reduce the strength of the coupler shall not be considered cracked.
15. Draft Arrangements
15.1 A railway company may 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:
- i. is missing; or
- ii. has more than 25% of the fasteners either loose or missing.
- the car has a draft key or draft key retainer that is:
- i. inoperative; or
- ii. missing.
- 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
- an end of car cushioning unit is broken, inoperative, or missing a part.