What is the functional purpose of that bar screwed to the top of the bolster that prevents the springs from compressing?
I have removed them and everything seems to work fine. Stumped.
Peter
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A picture of the item?
The bar reinforces the truck structure and is the coupler mount for 3-rail. It allows the truck to spring, but not equalize. It's not really necessary unless the car is going to get bumped around a lot in transportation. On my 2-rail Atlas cars, I remove the bar (but put the screws back in) to allow the trucks to equalize a bit for smoother operation on the club layout.
Basically I agree. it makes teh trucks rigid. Unfortunately some I have taken it off on have been pretty unstable. I think most will work with the bar removed.
prrjim posted:Basically I agree. it makes teh trucks rigid. Unfortunately some I have taken it off on have been pretty unstable. I think most will work with the bar removed.
That's why I put the screws back in. It stabilizes the side frames but still allows them to equalize.
In my experience with Atlas trucks with rotating bearing caps, that bar is best left in place, as any movement of the truck frames can trap the axles and prevent the wheels turning. Also the springs are so strong that without that bar they can force the frames inwards towards each other, with the same result. 
