I had a derailment of a Kadee Boxcar that was caused by a truck that had come apart. I think the truck can be reassembled and there is an extra set of springs in the box it came in. Are these for the truck or coupler? How on earth do I work with these tiny things to get the truck back together? (this is a first for me) Also does the bolster just sit loose in the side frame? It is hard to tell if any little piece’s broke off or not, or do these things just fall apart sometimes. All helpful hints appreciated.
With this type of truck, the bolster sits loose in the side frame, held in place by those tiny springs. There should be a small pin on the bolster and side frame to hold ench spring. Yes. inserting the springs is difficult - can’t use the true descriptor on this forum! [:$]
I suspect that the truck that came apart already had a spring missing. Normally that isn’t an issue. I have converted all my rolling stock to sprung trucks (Kadee and others) and have never had a truck come apart while on the rails.
Kadee makes a gadget called a “Spring Pic”,which is basically a steel wire with a ball end. You insert the ball between the coils of the spring and then just carefully insert it in the sideframe between the sideframe and the end of the truck bolster. The sideframe has to be loose to give the springs room to work, and to provide the equalizing action that makes sprung trucks operate so well.
And yes, it can be a large pain in the lower extremities. Expect to lose the occasional spring that goes “Poing…!” into oblivion…
Kadee makes a spring pic for inserting little springs, but I just use an Xacto knife blade - I prefer #16, but tastes differ.
It’s been a while since I worked with Kadee trucks, but as I recall both the bolster and the sideframe should have small nubs to hold the springs.
Insert the bolster into the truck frame - it will go in at the bottom and should slide up to the top. Insert the knife edge near one end of the spring and then carefully slip the other end of the spring over the nub on the bolster or sideframe, compress the spring with the knife and slip the end over the other nub. This can be tricky and you can easily lose springs while trying this. Repeat for the rest of the springs.
I don’t know if the coupler glad hand springs and truck springs are the same - check Kadee’s web site. I always keep extra Kadee springs on hand for the couplers.
At some point in the distant past I remember seeing a tip in Model Railroader about keeping from losing Kadee springs while inserting them. It involved passing a loop of fine thread through the spring prior to inserting it in the coupler or truck. If the spring popped during the insertion process the thread would help in locating it. After the spring was in place the loop of thread was carefully removed. I don’t know how well this worked but it was interesting.
Rather than trying to set the loose springs back in place you might try removing the bolster from the side frame, dipping the ends of the springs into a small drop of CA glue and set the springs on the end of the bolster. Once the glue is set the springs are usually secure enough to reassemble the truck. Set the springs in position in the side frame, compress them to the max and work the bolster end so it will slide up into position. Install the wheelsets and compress the bolster down and up a couple of times so the springs will align.
Usually the truck springs are ‘stiffer’ than the Kadee knuckle springs. Be aware that Kadee is converting their production to a new ‘two piece’ truck design that has molded-in springs. These new trucks are molded from an engineering plastic that has a high density metal in the mix. Kadee indicates that they lose no weight with the new trucks, and they are very free rolling.
Model ‘sprung’ trucks have a number of issues:
Springs many times are too ‘stiff’ to actually provide ‘equalizing’.
The springs are too small to ‘look’ right.
Most prototype trucks have a ‘spring nest’ with more than a pair of springs.
Thanks Sam. That seems like a good method to tackle the problem. Are the extra springs that came with the car for the trucks or the couplers? Or do they both take the same springs?
Aren’t Kadee truck springs black and knuckle springs brass/copper color as a way to tell them apart?
At our club we have removed Kadee metal trucks from rolling stock because they can cause an electrical short circuit when they derail.
In one instance, a Kadee truck on a reefer sitting on a siding somehow derailed and shorted out, but not bad enough to cause the DCC booster to shut down. Eventually the short in the truck generated so much heat that the bottom of the reefer melted. That’s when we began removing all Kadee metal trucks and replacing them with plastic.
Cacole is right in identifying the black springs for the trucks. Sometimes shops will stock them or they can be ordered from the Kadee web site.
Did some of these last weekend, using flat-tip tweezers as a spring compressor, and working with the trucks inside a large freezer-size Ziploc bag. Makes it easier to find flying springs. Sam Clark’s method sounds good too.
Our #637 is our most common truck springs and our #638 are for our 100 ton trucks. As mentioned they are black and much stiffer than the knuckle springs and larger diameter. We do not include extra truck springs in our truck packages so any extra springs you find are for other applications.
Kadee offers several different springs, and not all black ones are intended for trucks.
To easily re-assemble a Kadee sprung truck, place the bolster into its correct position in the sideframe, then hold the bolster in one hand, with your thumb or index finger atop the sideframe and pressing down to keep the two parts in correct alignment. Using your free hand and an X-Acto knife with a #11 or similar blade installed, slip the blade between the coils of the spring, as close to one end as possible. You may wish to load the spring onto the blade as your first step. [:-^]
Insert the free end of the spring into the place where it belongs, making sure to place it over the retaining nub provided. I find it easiest to use the nubs on the bolster first, but either will do. Next, push the blade towards the already-seated end of the spring, compressing the coils. This will allow you to push the unseated end into position over its locator nub, and when it’s properly aligned, relax the pressure on the coils. The one or two coils on this end are all that’s going to keep the spring in position as you withdraw the blade, so withdraw it carefully. I like to not set down the partially-assembled truck until the second spring is in place, as the sideframe otherwise may pivot too far, causing the parts to again separate.
Most of my cabooses use Kadee sprung trucks, but I remove the Kadee springs to add phosphor bronze leaf-style springs from PSC. These springs are fairly stiff, and the equalising ability of the truck is usually negated by them. However, the leaf springs are easy to deform during installation, and by the time I’m able to re-shape them, they’re often quite loose within the sideframes.
To solve this problem, I use a similar method to then re-install the original Kadee springs, this time working from the inside face of the truck. While the procedure is a li