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Topic

Public Transit

Large steel wheels and coupling rods of a preserved steam locomotive on display, showing the flange that keeps the wheel guided along the rail.

Why Train Wheels Never Need to Steer

No one steers a train around a curve. A 19th-century trick of geometry, the conical wheel, does that job instead, and railroads are still refining it.

Science  · 10 Aug 2026, 09:29  · Daniel Okafor
An outbound MBTA Green Line train at Boylston station, site of one of the system's sharpest subway curves.

Why Subway Trains Screech So Loudly on Tight Curves

Trains can't steer their wheels independently, so tight curves force a stick-slip vibration that turns steel into a very loud, unintentional bell.

Science  · 5 Aug 2026, 09:40  · Daniel Okafor