I have several IHC and Rivarossi smoothside passenger cars in my favorite railroad (Rf&p). I am looking to add weight and am concerned about reports of soft plastic causing the axle journals to wear quickly on Rivarossi cars. Does this also affect the IHC cars?
I am open to ideas on truck replacement also. Due to my small layout with sharp curves (24") I may need to stay with truck mounted couplers.
Chris
Hi Chris,
Answer: Yes, regarding the axle journals that are styled similarly to Rivarossis's version. Below is a photo of a Riv Obs car that I spruced up years back. I installed metal axles, with needle shaped ends into the stock journals.
Ran nicely for a good while.....then Murphy's Law kicked in, LOL! One evening I ran my version of the Silver Meteor at 50 smph at a club session with this car included. Well, my jaw dropped open as I watched the rear of this observation car wobbling faster than a Bobble-head sports figure in a monster truck!
I pulled the car off the train and saw that the rear axle on the rear truck had "drilled" a hole through the journal and warped it! .
You can get away with keeping the stock trucks, if the car is not going to do a lot of running. More than that, then installing Walthers or Rapido trucks would be a better route to take. There are adapters available for the conversion.
https://www.shapeways.com/product/3KNQG82JH/truck-adaptor-for-ihc-ahm-rivarossi
If I recall correctly, Walthers produces the Talgo-style trucks used by the Mainline cars, but you'd have to check.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
Thanks to both of you, I was not aware of this potential problem. I wonder, is the problem with the plastic of the trucks or the metal of the replacement wheelsets? And would lubrication be something to do when using replacement wheelsets? I've never bothered to lube wheelsets, apart from locos, but maybe I should!
Simon
Hi Simon,
Only assuming based on observation.
When I installed metal axles on my Riv cars, they ran fine, but were too light. So I filled the pockets in the floors with BB pellets, then smothered them with glue. Success! The cars rolled smoothly like high speed skates.
However, (my opinion) the added weight on the trucks results in the ends of the axles pushing down slightly on the journals enough to eventually reaming them out. But this was after quite a bit of running.
Lubrication: Graphite works nicely for plastic and metal trucks. I use Kadee's "Grease Em" which is just finely grounded graphite. Walther's metal passenger truck journals eventually start squealing if dry, so lubricating them is always recommended. If your cars have interior lighting that uses the trucks for electrical pickup, don't use graphite as the fine powder may windup on the wrong spot and cause shorts.
snjroy Thanks to both of you, I was not aware of this potential problem. I wonder, is the problem with the plastic of the trucks or the metal of the replacement wheelsets? And would lubrication be something to do when using replacement wheelsets? I've never bothered to lube wheelsets, apart from locos, but maybe I should! Simon
Kadee wheelsets with their plastic axles may cause less wear.
Tichy has nylon bearing inserts from the Gould crane trucks. I don't know if there is enough thickness in the Rivarossi trucks to drill a hole to insert them.
Mark
Kadee with plastic axles is something I didn't think about. I have a few I cam try. I'll see how well they roll.