Advise for replacement wheels

[memsd]

I'd like to replace all of my plastic wheels with metal ones. I see that that Proto has 36" and 33" wheelsets and IHC as 31". How do I know what to get? What are the dis/advantages of flat or ribbed backs?

[Anonymous]

You need to understand what was on your prototype. I'll try but people with more Experience will chime in

Ribbed vs. Flat - no mechanical advantage in MR but the era of the car determines if they are correct use WWII-1950 for a dividing line between ribbed and the modern flat backs.

The height of the wheel is based on what type of cars but the general rule of thumb is:

33" Freight cars w/ some exceptions

36" passenger cars and some larger hopper car i.e. 100 ton

28" for auto carriers or husky stack or both not really sure

31" no clue.

I hope this gives you a start in the right direction but check the prototype and compare your current wheel set to what it should have and you won't be too far off.

DT

[Anonymous]

MEM:

Good advice above. Would be helpful to know what era you are modeling. Ribbed "chilled" wheels were on the way out by the mid-1950s, banned on new cars after 1957, made obsolete by improvements in metalurgy. Originally they were adopted as a way to shed heat built-up during braking. For a thorough overview of trucks and wheelsets see the December '03 MR, p.72.

If you are thinking of replacing wheelsets also make sure your trucks are period appropriate.

Several companies make replacement trucks and wheelsets, Northwest Shortline among others. www.nwsl.com Check their website for more information.

Good Luck

Randy

[Anonymous]

I've just fitted Proto metal wheels to an Athearn 3-unit drawbar double stack car, and can offer the following advice:

Proto wheelsets are a direct replacement for Athearn - axle lengths are correct, and they're reasonably priced.

The Double stack car uses 33' wheels - smooth back type. This is probably also correct for the stand alone Athearn double stack car. The 5-unit Gunderson Maxi-III uses a mixture of 33' wheels for the end trucks and 36' wheels for the intermediate ones.

Walther's 5-unit spine car uses 33' wheels

Athearn's Impack uses 28' wheels (I think, they're smaller than the 33' wheelsets, so I guess they must be 28').

I also have a question about this topic. Does anyone know what size wheels the Athearn ACF Centreflow hopper should have? The kit comes with 33' wheels, but I've had to use offset couplers (Kadee #47 was ideal) and Kadee washers to bring the couplers up to the correct height - should these cars have 36' wheels? I recall a review of a woodchip hopper in MR recently which had this problem, which turned out to have undersized wheels fitted

[nfmisso]

Besides all of the information posted above; different manufacturers use different axle lengths. And some like Athearn use different axle lengths on different cars... I recently built a blue-box 40' box car, P2K wheels were a bit too loose, IM were good, and Kadee were a bit tight - but "The Tool" would take care of that. By my measurements: P2K have 1.008" axle lenght, IM 1.013" and KD 1.018".

RB I believe that the Ath ACF Centerflow represents a 100 ton car, so 36" would be appropriate - check the wieght data on the side of the car with a magnifyer.

[jrbarney]

Railroading Brit and Nigel,
In the article by George Sebastian-Coleman, about the ACF Center Flow 5250C, starting on page 88 of the Model Railroader February 2000 issue, two of the picture captions specifically say they are fitted with 100-ton trucks. Also the wheels on the plan by Harold W. Russell scale out as 36." LD LMT for SHPX car 454181 is 221700. The article also refers to an Ed Kaminski - Mike Del Vecchio article in Trains magazine for the same month.
Bob
NMRA Life 0543

[AggroJones]

Intermountain are the flat-out the best quality metal wheels availible. But also the most expensive. They fit most trucks I have here. Accurail, Athearn, Walthers. If you've got a freight car fleet of like 35 or more that you want to switch to metal wheels, you should go for the bulk pack of IM wheels. 100 high quality axels for like $60. Its cheaper in the bulk as oposed to buying 12 axel each time you need more.

[memsd]

Thank you all!

rda - I'm hoping to pull off a layout where my steam doesn't look badly out of place, but I'm leaning more towards modern.

[Anonymous]

Heres what Ive used on my rolling stock, based on prototype research (all modern cars). These are general guidelines, and my not be correct for every prototype.

57' mechanical reefer - 33"
50' covered hoppers (3&4 bay ACF centerflow, PS/PS2, FMC, trinity, etc) - 36"
60' Woodchip car - 36"
60' and 72' centerbeam flat cars - 36"
50' and 60' tank cars (some modern 40' cars also) - 36"
60' bulkhead & standard flat cars - 36"
Most 50' boxcars - 33"
50' gondolas - 36"
50' and 60' Hi-Cube boxcars - 36"
89" enclosed autoracks - 28"

Articulated well cars - 33" on the two outermost trucks (next to the couplers), and 36" on the articulated trucks (some prototype cars have 38" wheels here - which Intermountain makes in HO).
Stand alone and drawbar connected well cars - 33" (based on my research, some may have 36" wheels)

I have also noticed that sometimes the Proto 2000 wheels have a lot of side-to-side play in Athearn trucks, I have noticed this with both 33" and 36" wheels. Does anyone know of easy way to remedy this?

I hope this information helps.

Josh
Spokane, WA

[jrbarney]

Josh,
Someone else, on a recent similar thread, suggested going to the Reboxx site:
http://www.reboxx.com/wheelsets.htm
and downloading their wheel set application charts. The charts show which axle lengths to use with each brand of trucks, by wheel diameter. This may solve your problem with the Athern trucks.
Bob
NMRA Life 0543