Check Bowser's website, the HO firesale. Quite a few drivers on sale.
Yeah... most steam wheels arer 54 to 72+ inches in diameter.
Maybe you misstyped and wanted a 52" wheel.
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Welcome to the MR Forums, PZ!
Pioneer ZephyrMy goal was to scratch build this to run on HO, but as a back up plan, I would consider a source of N scale drivers approximating a 1:160 scale 25" driver, which I believe comes out to about 0.155". In HO I believe it would be close to 0.285" rounded off. I really think I will need to stick with HO to stay within my scratchbuilding abilities.
Unless I've misread your intentions, an HO scale 25" driver (considerably smaller than a 33" HO scale freight car wheel) would be approximately 25/64" in diameter, or about the same size as a "W" letter-sized drill bit.
TICHY
....but they're plastic, so not much use for a locomotive unless you're running "dead-rail".
Even if you could find such wheels, I can't imagine how you could add the side rods and valve gear in HO, never mind N scale.
Wayne
Welcome.
Great suggestions so far. 25 inch drivers is small. You may have to modify some spoked trailing truck wheels or leading truck wheels.
I hope Greenway products comes back someday. Another place is brass dealers in their junk brass departments. Lots of kitbash and scrapbook items there.
Pete.
Here's a post that I did about a year ago in reply to a similar question that may help a bit.
These guys have a wide range of brass parts including some wheelsets-
https://americanscalemodels.com/HO/HO_Detail_Parts/Steam_Loco_Parts/Steam_Loco_Drivers_Rigging?limit=80
I have found some brass parts from these guys in Canada who were very quick-
https://www.tmrdistributing.com/presta/index.php
And I got a Precisionscale tender vestibule for my MTH Yellowstone, which I was having a hard time finding, from this Ebay site. Perhaps they have wheels?
https://www.ebay.com/usr/j-tprantle?_trksid=p2047675.l2559
Also very reliable.
This site has members who seem to know the mechanics of brass steam inside out-
https://groups.io/g/RepowerAndRegear
There are less and less of us fiddlers out there so it can be a real trawl for these things as sources inevitably dry up. Let us know how you get along and good luck!
Welcome PZ. Thought I'd give your post a "bump", as there are quite a few steam guys in here, and a few that scratch build.
Souds like a neat project.
Mike.
My You Tube
Hi!As this is my first post here on the Model Raildoader discussion forum, I thought I'd preface my post with a quick intro. I got into the HO scale model RR hobby over 30 years ago, but I gave up my last permanent layout about 20 years ago. However the lack of a layout did not reflect a lack of interest! I have kept up with things as best I could, visiting my local hobby shop and picking up issues of Model Railroader from time to time. All that was to satiate the 'hunger' for my new layout, construction to commence -I hope- in the next 16 months. Whew, that's out of the way! Now getting 'round to my question, in the past I have only purchased new or used locomotives. I used to run both diesel and steam, so I'm fairly familiar with both. However my scratch building was limited to layout scenery and structures/dioramas. I've long wished to attempt a scratch built locomotive, and that wish has only grown stronger over the past 20 years. However I want to start on the right foot, or should I say the right wheel? I'm looking for HO scale drive wheels (preferably spoked, steam drivers, but I'm open to modifying if need be) that are pretty close to a real-world 25" driver (not counting the flange of course). Better yet, if someone knows of a specific locomotive that I can look for which already has drivers of that size, it would be a bonus as it would likely already have a geared shaft.
My goal was to scratch build this to run on HO, but as a back up plan, I would consider a source of N scale drivers approximating a 1:160 scale 25" driver, which I believe comes out to about 0.155". In HO I believe it would be close to 0.285" rounded off. I really think I will need to stick with HO to stay within my scratchbuilding abilities.
All suggestions welcome!