Walthers Passenger Cars - Couplers and Wheels - Issues and Questions

[AntonioFP45]

Thanks BigJerr

Like most of us here, I learned from fellow modelers, used their ideas and looked for ways modified them to make things easier.

Whether one is using a lighting kit or not, the Moly works very well as it won't ooze out of the jounal and it lasts a long time ( or more accurately, many scale miles).

 

BIG JERR

good info antonio,  nice of you to add the roof removel in some detail ,I hate those roof clips, and HMMM; moly w/grafite thats a twist ...good job ..JW

 

[Lmackattack]

I know this is a very old thread but I figure I would add to what I did to reduce the derail issues of my Walthers passenger cars. I have 5 passenger Walthers passenger train sets. each train is no less than 10 cars. I also have a commuter train of 8 cars. I chose not to use their lighting except for the rear most car for my drum lighting. What I did to each car was to remove the trucks then install a nylon shim that can be found at any Ace or True value hardware store. these shims are about 8 cents each. this thin nylon washer will need to be slightly trimmed on both sides so it can fit neatly between the trucks frame once its installed. I simply trim the shim and push it over the car bolster. its a nice snug fit so it will not shift around and cause the car to bind. This shim lifts the car body off the metal screws used for interior lighting. its just enough that the trucks can move freely like a freight car. Place the car with shims installed on a flat surface and You will immediately notice it can rock side to side and articulate over track irregularities. Factory cars will have just about zero play in the trucks. I run my trains on a very old club layout and have very limited issues compared to when they were new out of the box. In fact I wont even put a walthers car on the tracks to run unless I added shims to them.

[ATSFGuy]

I have the Walthers 2002 NMRA Track in the Sand beach set which consists of 5 Superliners and a Material Handling Car. It ran fine out of the box on the club layout at the Discovery Cube. The Superliner Sleeper uncoupled a few times due to some bad track on the Wisconsin Central corner, but this was due to the layout being placed on carpet instead of tile. After two guys adjusted the module to be level with the rest of the layout, the train ran fine with no problems.

I know the plastic couplers are junk, but they'll do for now.

[Lone Wolf and Santa Fe]

richhotrain

Walthers uses those plastic knuckle couplers without springs for hinges. Instead the knuckle pivots on a plastic strip.

I call those couplers, Middle Finger couplers, because instead of a spring they give you a thin strip of plastic that looks like a finger right in the middle of the knuckle and when it gets bent back too much it loses it's shape and fails and you give it the middle finger.

When they fail I replace them with Kadee #5 or now Kadee #148. They tend to fail if held in the open position for too long, like if they are stored in a box and press up against the edge.

I only have Amtrak Superliner cars made in the 1990s so I can't comment on your exact models but I have never had any problems with the wheels or the trucks. I run these cars on 22" radius. They have the swing style coupler mountings so they run fine. They won't run on 18" radius however. I like the cars alot but there is a gap between diaphrams when being pulled which I don't really care for but it is what it is and I haven't really looked into replacing the diaphrams with something better yet.

[AntonioFP45]

Wow, talk about a blast from the past! I was surprised to see this thread resurface but, imho, it's beneficial and informative.

I'll share this.

On one of the other forums I belong to, several members complained about squealing wheels on their Walthers passenger cars. The topic seems to come up at least twice per year.

The usual oil-related solutions are suggested and responded to. However, when I suggest that the posters try Moly Grease (which contains molybdenum), it seems to be ignored. Yet, from my experience with it, Moly is quite durable and more viscous than the Labelle oil products. Additionally due to the presence of graphite, it helps conduct electrical current for units equipped with lighting kits that depend on truck contacts. Even with a large passenger car fleet, one small tube of Moly will last years!

But, of course, each modeler should experiment and see what works best for his/her situation.

 

[gmpullman]

AntonioFP45

However, when I suggest that the posters try Moly Grease (which contains molybdenum), it seems to be ignored.

I agree, Antonio.

I've been using Dow-Corning Molykote Z^® Powder in draft gear, switch points, bolsters and some axle ends for years.

Great Stuff!

Cheers! Ed

[richhotrain]

Since I started this thread back in late 2013, I should probably update my experiences with the Walthers passenger cars.

The first thing that I did back in 2014 was to replace all of the couplers on all of the Walthers passenger cars that I own, 36 in total. I now use only Kadee couplers, alternating medium (#148) and long (#146) whisker couplers on each car. My protocol is to put a medium coupler on the front of each car and a long coupler on the rear of each car. That prevents derailments and snags but does result in a bit of unsightly space between the cars. To solve the space problem, I have often planned to install American Limited Models (ALM) diaphragms, but I have just never got around to it.

I finally eliminated, or at least significantly reduced, the squealing on the cars by applying a drop of medium oil (Woodland Scenics) at the point of each axle on each wheelset.

To eliminate derailments caused by tight wheel trucks, I have made numerous adjustments to the holding screws. Over time, I have fined tuned these adjustments to the point where deraliments no longer occur. That said, making movements across a bunch of turnouts (Atlas Custom Line #6 Code 83) into the passenger station still requires slow, steady movement to avoid derailments. On my next layout, I will only use #8 turnouts and avoid any S-curves.

Hope this helps.

Rich

[Zebrails]

Trucks askewed.  I will investigate this. Thanks so very much. 

I have one Walthers standard six axle passenger car that will not roll freely on straight track! What a drag it is to locomotives.

I thought about only complaints to send to Walthers.

John

[gmpullman]

Zebrails

I have one Walthers standard six axle passenger car that will not roll freely on straight track!

Sometimes, the middle axle will interfere with the bolster mounting screw. That screw is very short and can not be overtightened. I occasionally place a tiny dab of Walthers Goo on the screw threads before reinstalling the truck. That way I can leave enough play in the bolster without risking the screw falling out.

All Walthers passenger trucks need to have the axle needlepoints lubricated. I use a tiny drop of CRC 2-26 with a needle-point applicator for this task. 

Almost all my Walthers cars roll with little resistance. The inside-bearing Amfleet cars are the exception.

Good Luck, Ed

[richhotrain]

richhotrain

Since I started this thread back in late 2013, I should probably update my experiences with the Walthers passenger cars.

The first thing that I did back in 2014 was to replace all of the couplers on all of the Walthers passenger cars that I own, 36 in total. I now use only Kadee couplers, alternating medium (#148) and long (#146) whisker couplers on each car. My protocol is to put a medium coupler on the front of each car and a long coupler on the rear of each car. That prevents derailments and snags but does result in a bit of unsightly space between the cars. 

I finally eliminated, or at least significantly reduced, the squealing on the cars by applying a drop of medium oil (Woodland Scenics) at the point of each axle on each wheelset.

To eliminate derailments caused by tight wheel trucks, I have made numerous adjustments to the holding screws. Over time, I have fined tuned these adjustments to the point where deraliments no longer occur.

Rich 

The above comments were made in 2017, when this thread was first revived, to detail corrective actions that I took back in 2013 to make Walthers passenger cars workable on my layout.

I am happy to report, in this second revival of the thread, that my Walthers passenger cars work just fine. 

Rich