Walthers truck mounting repair

[Lone Wolf and Santa Fe]

The plugs are actually Rivarossi and they are available but very expensive. It is better to replace them with a machine screw that fits. I have done this without any problems. I don't remember the size but I just looked through my collection until I found the right one. If it was too long I cut it with the bolt cutters that are built into a wire stripper and crimper tool from an auto parts store.

[jjdamnit]

Hello all,

BigDaddy

...take a piece of plastic sprue...

Good thought on the sprue in place of the styrene rod, provided it's big enough to fit the hole.

Hope this helps.

[dstarr]

I have used machine screws as large as 6-32.  They will cut their own threads into plastic, no need to tap for them.  Pan head machine screws are the best.  If the holes left from the "plastic plugs" is too big, you can fill it in with styrene rod, or bits of styrene sprue and glue it with any of the plastic welder cements.  If the sprue is too big for the hole, heat it over a match flame and stretch it  out thinner.  I'd use a screw size to fit the trucks, as big as will fit into the trucks without drilling out the hole in the truck.  

 

[BigDaddy]

A trick my uncle Ebenezer taught me was to take a piece of plastic sprue, put it in a drill chuck and at low speed, file and or sand it to the diameter that fits.  High speed might melt the plastic into your file.  Glue that into the bolster hole and trim it flush.

Then you can drill and tap it for a 2-56 screw.  Kadee sells a set with drill and a tap, they both fit into a pin vise.  Screws are readily available on fleabay or Amazon.  Our local Ace hardware has "microscrews" but every size screw and nut is mixed it with every other; so size recognition is possible only for experts.

All the best;

Bob Cratchit

 

[RR_Mel]

I’ve used Styrene tubing like jjdamnit but I let the tubing extend out of the bottom of the car.  The truck should freely slide over the tubing up to the bottom of the car.  Mark the tubing level with the inside of the truck hole and cut it off.  A 2-56, 2mm or #2 screw should “self tap” its self and can be used a keeper to prevent the truck from falling off.

 

 

Mel

 

Modeling the early to mid 1950s SP in HO scale since 1951

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

[jjdamnit]

Hello all,

SouthPenn

...uses a plastic 'plug' to hold their trucks on.

Are you referring to "Pressure Pins" that hold the trucks onto the car?

These are two pins, molded into the bolster, that extend up from the trucks and fit into a hole in the floor of the car. They have a prong on the end that hold them in place. 

Other trucks are held on by a 2-56 screw. The hole for the pressure pins are way too large for this size screw.

Yes, you can use a larger screw that fits the existing hole; as has been suggested, but there might not be enough material for the larger screw to bite into the floor of the car.

Another option would be to use a piece of styrene rod, possibly slightly larger than the existing hole, and glue it in place. You can expand the existing hole(s) as needed.

Then trim and sand the plug(s) flush to the bottom.

Using a #50 bit, drill a pilot hole in the plug, then tap with a 2-56.

You might need to use plastic or fiber washer(s) on the trucks; to fill in the hole on bolster, so the 2-56 screw head does not pull through after cutting off the pressure pins.

Hope this helps.

[doctorwayne]

I'm not familiar with those cars (freight or passenger?), but simply replacing the plug with a similarly-sized screw may do the trick.  A machine screw will cut its own threads in the plastic of the car's floor, or you can use an appropriate tap.  You may also have to slightly enlarge the hole in the trucks' bolsters to allow clearance for the threads on the screw.

Wayne

[SouthPenn]

Walthers uses a plastic 'plug' to hold their trucks on. Does anyone know of a way to replace these plugs with a screw?