Driving wheel

[2][3][4] On diesel and electric locomotives, the driving wheels may be directly driven by the traction motors.

[9] Some three-driving-axle locomotives also had flangeless wheels on the middle axle, such as Everett Railroad 11, and the NZR WH class.

[15][16] Many American roots artists, such as The Byrds, Tom Rush, The Black Crowes and the Canadian band Cowboy Junkies have performed a song written by David Wiffen called "Driving Wheel", with the lyrics "I feel like some old engine/ That's lost my driving wheel.

Many versions of the American folk song "In the Pines" performed by artists such as Leadbelly, Mark Lanegan (on The Winding Sheet), and Nirvana (On MTV Unplugged In New York) reference a decapitated man's head found in a driving wheel.

[19] In addition, it is likely that Chuck Berry references the locomotive driving wheel in "Johnny B. Goode" when he sings, "the engineers would see him sitting in the shade / Strumming with the rhythm that the drivers made."