I am really confused about my options regarding trucks and wheelsets. I bought some N-scale Tichy MOW car kits that did not come with trucks and as I was browsing online, I realized that I have no idea what I need/want and what really matters.
I’m not particularly worried about getting the exact trucks that were on the prototype, but rather trucks that will work.
So here are my areas of confusion and I would appreciate some clarity:
The differences between archbar, bettendorf and roller bearing seem to be “cosmetic” in that they look different but are otherwise interchangable. Correct?
The trucks I’m seeing online seem to come with “short extension”, “medium extension”, “long extension”. What is that? Which would I need? How do I determine which I need?
The product descriptions mention that couplers are (or are not) included but say nothing about wheels. Do I need to buy those separately? I don’t have a layout yet but am learning towards Code 55 track for when I do. Which wheels do I need for that?
Style of trucks. Archbar trucks are antiques, and were barred from interchange something before WWII. Bettandorf are trucks were used from the end of WWI until quite recently. The Bettandorf side frames and journal boxes are a single steel casting. The bearings are friction bearings. They remained in service until friction bearing trucks were barred from interchange, quite recently, 1990’s I think. Roller bearing trucks started appearing in the late 1960’s and are universal today. The axles of roller bearing trucks poke out thru the sideframes and you can see them rotate as the car moves.
Long, medium and short extension likely referres to how far the truck mounted couplers stick out. Long ought to work anywhere, at the cost of a lot (an unrealistic amount) of airspace in between cars. Short ought to couple up very closely, but may (will) cause trouble on sharp curves. I am in HO, where couplers are usually body mount, and I don’t remember seeing the phrase in connection with HO trucks.
Trucks ought to come with wheels installed. They do in HO. NMRA recommended practice RP25 specifies the depth of flange, among other things. In HO RP25 wheels are, and have been, standard for many years. RP25 wheels in HO work on code 100 and code 83 track. I assume the same is true in N, and that N gauge RP25 wheels will work on the smallest rail anyone ever used in N. The vendor ought be able to tell you if the wheels conform to RP25, or, barring that, give you some assurance that the trucks will work on code 55.
Use the short extension on the Tichy MOW cars. The short extension work on most 40’-50’ foot freight cars. To represent a car that has a cushion underframe use the median extension. 60’ cars usually require the median extension. 80’+ cars usually require the long extension.
The couplers are mounted on the trucks which while not prototypical has until recently been standard for N Scale. MicroTrains trucks come with plastic wheels. They work fine, it is not necessary to change them.
Sometime in the future after you gain more knowlege, you may want to replace the wheels with aftermarket metal wheels. If you do will probably also want to convert to body mounted couplers at the same time. Cars with body mounted couplers require larger radius curves than cars with truck mounted couplers.
Many any recent N scale cars come with body mounted couplers.
Thanks, Bear, this is very helpful to newcomers and even those who have been at it for a while. I started serious modeling whedn I was 13–1953–and it was many years before I saw any information other than side-view drawings of the various types of trucks. MR did one of these on freght trucks and another on passenger trucks, back in the '50s, but I didn’t see these until I was 18-19 and started buying MR bound volumes–at $6.50 each! (This sounds like a bargain now and it was at the time, but bear in mind–no pun intended–the minimum wage was $1.10 per hour.)
The internet and this forum are immensely valuable to modelers and I wish more modelers knew of it!