The dynamics of railway vehicles—from Stephenson to Carter

Abstract

The special feature of the dynamics of railway vehicles, i.e. the propensity to oscillation in the lateral plane, arises from the use of the wheelset with its solid axle and coned wheels. This paper traces the early history of the wheelset and how it was incorporated in the design of locomotives and rolling stock and discusses the ensuing dynamic problems. The development of ideas about stability and steering in curves is then considered up to the time of Carter, who in 1916 can be said to have been the first to formulate essentially correct equations of motion and solve them.