Skip to main content

Axles

Axles That Keep Your Transit Cars Rolling

We design and manufacture a wide range of axles customized to your specifications. Our axles meet the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and International Union of Railways (UIC) standards, as required, and can be sub-critically quenched in our heat treatment facility.

Standard Axles

We manufacture regular axles to exact tolerances in these designs:

 Solid
 Hollow
 Inboard Bearing
 Outboard Bearing
Axle

Low-Floor Axles

We can equip our wheel sets with low-floor axles, with solid or resilient wheels, as well as fully-suspended drives and single- or double-reduction gearboxes.

By providing heat treatment services in-house, we’re able to meet your process requirements for vertically sub-critical quenched axles quickly and efficiently.

Sub-Critical Quenching

After we rough-machine axles, we:

 Place them in a vertical position in an electric furnace for sub-critical quenching (axles typically remain in the furnace for one hour per inch of diameter based on the size of the axle’s largest fit)
 Remove the axles from the furnace & quench them in water (axles remain in the water bath until they cool to an ambient temperature of about 70°F)
 Finish-machine the axles to customer specifications

We use AAR-approved methods for non-destructive testing (NDT) and perform dimensional checks to ensure quality when the manufacturing process is complete.

To complement our production capabilities, we also re-condition axles and supply flexible couplings, replacement gears and rubber components for gearboxes and related products. We also offer a full range of hubs.

Tell us about your axle requirements, and we’ll provide you with a customized solution.

Penn Machine Axles

Tech Data Sheets