Identification
Blomberg trucks can be identified by their prominent outside swing hangers, which afford a better ride during side-to-side movement. The outside placement has the advantage of widening its spring base from 56 to 96 inches (1,422 to 2,438 mm).
A popular modification by railroads in later years was reducing the number of brake shoes from 8 to 4 by reconfiguring the double-clasp brake rigging, removing one brake shoe per wheel. This can give the Blomberg B a similar appearance of later Blomberg M trucks.
Although possibly a few exceptions exist, where a customer has specifically requested so-called "plain" bearings, almost all Blomberg B and M trucks (freight), and all Blomberg A1A trucks (passenger) which preceded these, have almost always been equipped with roller bearings.
Blomberg B trucks are occasionally seen on competitive locomotives, the General Electric Universal Series in particular, where the railroad has requested re-use of traded-in EMD trucks and possibly also EMD traction motors on new GE locomotives.
Read more about this topic: Blomberg B