Athearn vs Tichy trucks

[lone geep]

A few months ago I purchased a bulk pack of Tichy's Bennedorf freight car trucks to upgrade some of my rolling stock, but when I placed the model next to some of my others, the journal boxes look tiny. Are the Tichy trucks' journal boxes too small? Are the Athearn too large or is are they modelling two different truck styles? I have attached a picture to show the size difference. 

Tichy on the left, Athearn on the right

Thanks

[SeeYou190]

To me they both look OK. They might be different types of trucks. One might be AAR Ride Control, and the other Bettendorf.

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I am by no means a freight car truck expert, but once painted, washed, highlighted, and weathered, they all look OK to me.

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-Kevin

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[csxns]

lone geep

left

What kind of gondola is that and the road name?

[SouthPenn]

The Tichys might be closer to scale size.

[gmpullman]

SouthPenn

The Tichys might be closer to scale size.

I would agree with that statement, with the observation that they may be scaled to an earlier, thus smaller, prototype.

Bearing and consequently, journal sizes increased as car loading and increased train speeds demanded larger bearing surface and journal size.

Some of the early "brasses" only measured 3.75" x 7" and later, heavier trucks called for something like 6" x 11" brass bearing size, obviously requiring a larger journal box with more oil capacity, too. The bearing was cast in brass but the actuall contact area of the journal was a thin layer of babbit.

 

Great information here:

http://mrr.trains.com/~/media/import/files/pdf/4/c/c/mr_pi_5-06_freightcartrucks.ashx

 

That Athearn design was probably the result of tool and die work and practical compromizes from the 1950-60 era. Probably "good enough" for our use unless you are really shooting for an exact scale replica.

Regards, Ed

[MisterBeasley]

I've pretty much finished upgrading all my old plastic wheelsets to metal.  In the process, I've had to discard and replace old trucks.  Many of these were Athearns from my youth, old metal trucks with real springs that were simply no longer solid enough to run.  The truck bodies would no longer hold the wheelsets in place, either the original plastic ones or the replacements from Intermountain.  Tichy truck were my replacements.

I don't notice much difference in size, but the Tichy trucks give me the solid, reliable performance I need and much improved rolling characteristics combined with the Intermountain wheelsets and the always-popular MicroMark truck tuner.  With some paint and weathering, I have nicer models, too.