The name comes from the journal box on a plain-bearing truck, where oil-soaked packing that runs dry starts to smoke and burn. Roller bearings run far cooler but still fail, and an overheating bearing can climb hundreds of degrees and burn the journal off the axle, dropping the car onto the track. Wayside detectors exist mainly to catch hot boxes before that happens.
Detector called a hot box on the rear, conductor shot it with the temp gun and it's reading 300 over ambient.
Also heard as
- hot journal
- hot bearing
Related terms
Hot box detector
A trackside scanner that measures bearing temperatures on a passing train and radios a warning if one runs hot.
Bad order
A car or locomotive with a defect that keeps it from running until it is repaired.
Set out
To leave a car or group of cars on a track short of the train's final destination.
Car knocker
A carman, the mechanical worker who inspects and repairs railcars and tests their brakes.