I went to the somewhat local hobby shop the other day and I managed to find a couple pairs of "T section" freight trucks. They were old stock of Walther's manufacture. I then checked the Walther's catalog and I don't see them as currently available items from either Walther's or Kadee. Is anyone else making them now? Thanks!!
Kadee and Walthers do make them. You need to search for "T-section Bettendorf trucks" or something similar. Walthers steam-era former Train Miniature freight cars came with T-section Walthers plastic trucks back in the 1980's - 1990's. Originally they were sprung trucks, later they were one piece. At the time, you could buy the trucks separately from Walthers, not sure how long ago they quit making them.
https://www.walthers.com/bettendorf-t-section-fully-sprung-metal-trucks-code-110-110-quot-33-quot-ribbed-back-rp-25-wheels-1-pair
https://www.walthers.com/sprung-trucks-w-33-quot-metal-wheels-axles-t-section-bettendorf-1-pair
Thanks! That's what I was looking for.
Some more info on trucks...the Andrews cast-steel sideframe was introduced in 1898, and one of its features was that it was designed to accept journal boxes from the older archbar-type built-up trucks.
I'm not certain, but the Kadee Andrews-style trucks under this gondola, scratchbuilt onto a Tichy flatcar, appear to have T-section members. Lettering is from Black Cat... (all photos will enlarge if clicked-upon)
This all-metal Ulrich drop-bottom gondola came with all-metal sprung Bettendorf-style trucks (I don't know if Ulrich made them or bought them from another company), but they eventually fell apart, possibly due to zincpest. Lettering is from C-D-S...
I replaced them with one Train Miniature T-section unsprung truck under the B-end, and an older Kadee sprung T-section truck under the A-end. I have modified all of my Kadee sprung trucks to eliminate the see-through appearance by adding a black styrene view-block behind the spring package opening.
These four Train Miniature boxcars are all fitted with what I would guess to be Walthers one-piece T-section sideframes. I have quite a few TM cars with sprung TM Andrews or Bettendorf-style trucks, but haven't yet located any with sprung T-section trucks.This first boxcar is a standard TM doublesheathed car, but I've modifed the original sidesills to created a taller car, then added new scratchbuilt sidesills. The fishbelly underframe is from Accurail, and the car was built to match a photo of its prototype. Lettering is from C-D-S...
...this one got Kadee wheelsets due to the not-all-that-round ones which came with the car. Lettering is from C-D-S and Rail Graphics...
...another pretty-much "stock" TM car, with a few added details...
...and a TM USRA-style all-steel boxcar....
...both cars lettered with decals from Champ.
This PFE reefer was built from a Tichy undecorated kit, but I substituted the older T-section trucks from Kadee in place of the Bettendorfs that came with the kit. Lettering is from Champ...
...another undecorated PFE reefer kit, this one's from Intermountain, and it came with the T-section trucks - I don't know if Intermountain offers, or ever offered, the trucks separately. They're not sprung, but very well-rendered. Again, lettering from Champ...
This reefer, one of four similar cars, was originally a fairly plain Tyco 40' wood reefer with steel ends and roof, and cast-on details. I shortened the cars to 36'-ers, then gave them new wooden (styrene) ends, radial roofs, and scratchbuilt truss-rod underbodies, along with some free-standing details. The cars got whatever trucks I happened to have on-hand at the time, but this one's the only one that got T-section trucks, in this case, the more recent offerings from Kadee...
This last car is a Proto-1000 car from Lifelike Canada. I got it as a bodyshell and while it came with installed free-standing grabirons, they were cast plastic, and somewhat oversize in thickness. I replaced them with custom-bent metal ones (they're not a standard width), then fabricated a new underbody. The trucks are deliberately mismatched (a much more common sight on the prototype than you might think), with a fairly recent Kadee T-section truck under the A-end, and what appears to be one of the original Simplex trucks used under the Fowler cars, at the B-end...
Archbar trucks were prohibited from interchange after July 1, 1940, and T- and L-section Bettendorf trucks were banned from interchange after January 1, 1953. Any trucks with I-, T-, L-, or U-section compression and tension members, including U-section Bettendorf and Andrews trucks, were banned from interchange after January 1, 1954.
Wayne