I know they were common through the 70s and into the 80s. They were being advertised in 1958, with no claim that they were a new product, so I have no idea when they were first used.
The Nevada Northern supposedly had a wreck crane with roller bearings in archbar trucks. The story was that the WP leased it, and would accept the archbar trucks, but insisted on roller bearings, so the WP shops did the conversion.