I'd like to change my plastic wheel sets for metal ones. Any suggestions for a manufacturer, size, etc. I'm am modeling the Reading Railroad circa 1965 and is probably 99% freight cars. Should I change out trucks as well or just the wheels? Changing the trucks can get rather expensive from what I have researched. Thanks for any advice, it is greatly appreciated!
Barry
Replacing plastic with metal wheels is very easy. You just lightly pry open the side where the plastic wheell resides and it pops out.
I would get Kadee over any other brand. While more expensive, the reliability is unmatched. You're right that replacing the trucks is expensive and I would do that only when the trucks snap into the rolling stock. For size, 33" is fine for your era.
Some of my esteeemed colleagues here love plastic and that's fine. I just find metal is more reliable. To each their own of course.
Great earlier discussion here about metal v. plastic: http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/93736.aspx
All: Since I model the 1980s, would you replace all the 33" wheels for 36" on cars from the 1960s and 1970s? Per regulations, there's no issue having them run on a 1980s layout.
Freight car wheel diameter has to do with the load rating of the car. 33" wheels were generally used on 40 ton and 70 ton rated cars. When 100 ton loads were allowed in the 1960s, that is when we started seeing the 36" wheels on freight cars. Railroads were cost concious, they would not have used 36" wheels if 33" would do the job. Think of a large RR with thousands of freight cars, the cost dfference between the two sizes of wheels would be huge when spread across the fleet.
As to repalacemet wheel sets, both Kadee and Intermountain are good. Intermountain sells a pack of 100 wheel sets, a good buy if you have a lot of cars to change.
Another thing to think about when making the changes, is to use a Truck Tuner. This is a tool that shaves the inside of the plastic truck where the cone shaped axle fits. It removes flash and burrs so the wheel runs with less drag. It is available from Micro Mark
http://www.micromark.com/ho-truck-tuner,8241.html
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
My understanding is that 33" versus 36" inch wheels is a function of weight and load, not era per se.
Kadee wheels are what I use but I take a wire brush in my Dremel motor tool, hold the axle (gently) with a pliers, and polish the wheel treads so they are shiny and not matte brown. For your era the wheels would have the smooth backs not the ribbed backs (except for older MOW equipment perhaps).
Intermountain also makes good replacement metal wheels and I often see them on sale at swap meets.
You might find that not all trucks will roll well if you swap out the wheels. MicroMark offers a "truck tuner" which basically lightly reams and polishes the conical bearing openings in the trucks - that almost always improves things. In fact that is not a bad idea to do with all your trucks as you swap out the wheels. I admit that before I got a truck tuner I used a small phillips screw driver to achieve the same results.
I think you can be selective about changing the trucks. I don't mind using my Athearn, MDC, ConCor and Walthers trucks with metal wheel replacements, but there are some older makes of trucks such as the AHM trucks that don't look good to me and those I do replace. There are certain makes of trucks that do not accept the standard axle and there it is either tolerate the original wheels, look to see if NWSL has special replacement wheel/axle combinations, or swap out the trucks. Some trucks such as the Mantua kit line from the 1960s have a rather proprietary bolster and there I have gone so far as to swap out the entire underframe and trucks, assuming the car body is something I want to bother with.
Dave Nelson
I am a definate fan of the truck tuner,I reccomend getting one and using it even if you don't replace plastic with metal.It simply is money well spent.
G Paine Freight car wheel diameter has to do with the load rating of the car. 33" wheels were generally used on 40 ton and 70 ton rated cars. When 100 ton loads were allowed in the 1960s, that is when we started seeing the 36" wheels on freight cars. Railroads were cost concious, they would not have used 36" wheels if 33" would do the job. Think of a large RR with thousands of freight cars, the cost dfference between the two sizes of wheels would be huge when spread across the fleet. As to repalacemet wheel sets, both Kadee and Intermountain are good. Intermountain sells a pack of 100 wheel sets, a good buy if you have a lot of cars to change. Another thing to think about when making the changes, is to use a Truck Tuner. This is a tool that shaves the inside of the plastic truck where the cone shaped axle fits. It removes flash and burrs so the wheel runs with less drag. It is available from Micro Mark http://www.micromark.com/ho-truck-tuner,8241.html I have one on order
All machined metal wheels like Intermountain, Reboxx or NWSL and the truck tuner. They really roll free.
Kadees are sintered metal wheels, not machined metal wheels.
You can Google for 33 and 36 inch railroad wheels will give you a lot of info.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
All of my freight cars have been converted to Intermountain metal wheels. I never change out the trucks, no reason to do so.
Alton Junction
I have metal wheelsets in all my cars. Many years back I standardized on Kadee, and polished the treads. With all those years of operation, the voids in the cast Kadee wheels collect gunk. I'm slowly converting to machined wheels like Intermountain and ExactRail, which stay cleaner, plus the needlepoint axles seem to roll more smoothly.
I rarely replace trucks unless there's some problem with the originals.
Rob Spangler
richg1998 Kadees are sintered metal wheels, not machined metal wheels.
I have read in the past that sintered wheels tend to get dirtier faster as they are more porous than machined wheels. Could this be right?
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I used to use nothing but Kadees but have found Intermountain better for free rolling, if you want a bit of resistance then Kadee is my go to as the Intermountain will roll away at the slightest grade. Never needed a truck tuner and have even gotten the Ertl cars to work with Intermountain wheels (as their stuff was made just for display as far as I can tell).
- another vote for the MicroMark truck tuner
- for my freight cars, I most use Intermountain, sometimes Proto 2000 (ribbed back). The Intermountain in 100 packs are about 60 cents per axle IIRC.
- I bought a digital caliper from MicroMark (about $25, similar one is often cheap on sale at Harbor Freight). I use this to measure the original axle length. That gives me a clue as to whether the replacement may be a bit too tight (sometimes) or loose (infrequent). I subjectively test roll the renewed truck down my layout slope and can tell if it's ok.
- The Reboxx site gives original axle lengths if you know what car you have, and suggested replacement. I don't think the replacement has to be critically close to the original (as long as not too tight; i.e, too long).
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
BATMANI have read in the past that sintered wheels tend to get dirtier faster as they are more porous than machined wheels. Could this be right?
It's absolutley right. It's why I'm eliminating Kadee wheels in favor of Intermountain and other machined types. The difference in dirt accumulation is very noticeable.
I recently changed the wheels on all my cars that were not so equipped, around 100, for metal ones. Most wheels from P2K, some from Kadee and some from Intermountain. Strangely I didn't need to use the "Truck Turner" at all. All cars are now free rolling.
Guy
Modeling CNR in the 50's
Intermountain semi-insulated wheels ( where one side of each wheel axle is insulated with a plastic ring, to allow the other side to pick up power from the track) are my universal solution for all my rolling stock projects and inventory.
The enjoyable "clickety-clack" of metal wheels replicate that delightful sound of rail traffic in the prewelded era, although sometimes at night, living only a block off a CSX freight line, I can hear that sound today during night freight moves.
The almost frictionless rolling quality of metal wheels, coupled with their cleaner aspect is why I invested in converting all my rolling stock- the realistic sound is a bonus!!!
Cedarwoodron
I've been using Intermountain machined brass wheels in all my rolling stock since 2001-2002. Reboxx makes wheels in different axle lengths and I heard are made in the same factory as the Intermountain wheels. Another thought when using 36" wheels is that they were used in passenger cars. A big plus of metal wheels over plastic is that your locos can pull longer trains because of the reduced rolling resistance.