Talk:Budd–Michelin rubber-tired rail cars

Wheel flanges
Wheel flanges are necessary to direct a rail car around curves in track; flanges are integral to the "normal operation" of the wheel.

By representing the flange as if flat-tire protection measure, the text of this article disregards the fundamental question of how a Budd-Michelin train stayed on the rails. Does the compression of the pneumatic tire takes the place of the conical geometry of conventional steel tire in the weight-bearing portion of the wheel to guide it through a curve? If not, I suspect the flanges would be even more important

A close squint at the inset "Micheline" photo shows flanges extending beyond the diameter of the tire as they would on a conventional steel rail. It is not clear whether every wheel was flanged, but I would think that at least four wheels in each wheel truck (or bogie) would have flanges to keep on the track even if the other wheels functioned as blind drivers.

A self-interested paper by a Budd Company engineer from 1933 is worth working into this article for its discussion of design considerations. Its illustrations--especially the diagram of the wheel, showing the aluminum "deflation ring" inside the tire and the steel flange extending beyond the body of the tire--would be especially illuminating but are presumably in copyright. RAGSDALE, E. (1933). The WHY and HOW of THE RUBBER-TIRED RAILROAD-COACH. SAE Transactions, 28, 54-64. www.jstor.org/stable/44433863

Incidentally, note that Ragsdale's paper uses a hyphen, not an e-dash (as used in this entry's title), to render the name of the Budd-Michelin collaboration. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.44.70.9 (talk) 21:07, 23 December 2020 (UTC)