Don’t forget Australia is as big as mainland USA and it is the 6 th biggest country in the world, so it goes from 2000 ks across open ocean to Antarctica and up equatrorial up near Papua New Guinea.
At Kuber Pedy (I’m sure I spelt it wrong) it gets up to 52 Celsius degrees every day for about 3 months of the year, so much so that the town is almost entirely underground, it is the world capital of Opal mining.
However here on the Sunshine Coast with nearly the best climate in the world, we only get up to about 35 to 40 deg C but we get it every day for 5 months of the year and it never gets below 20 degrees C. We are only 26 degrees from the equator and the only part of the USA in that league is Hawaii.
Getting back to metal wheels i am amazed at just how freely rolling stock run with LGB ball bearing metal wheels, they roll so much and so easily they can be a nuisance.
ian
Getting back to metal wheels i am amazed at just how freely rolling stock run with LGB ball bearing metal wheels, they roll so much and so easily .
what does it cost for this conversion? are these for mostly 4 wheel cars or 8 wheel cars?
Hard to say mate, I got a good deal on ebay, just watch it I will give you the LGB number, 67403. It is the ball bearings that do it not the metal wheels.
I have a postal van LGB 32190 and i accidentally let it go one day and it yo yo’d back and forth for some minutes. The slightest gradient and it will just run off by itself then up the next up gradient to a stop and back down again etc. Annoying yes but very wothwhile.
I would certainly not bad mouth Bachmann wheelsets, I have replaced all the plastic from under, my Aristo Delton, USA Trains, Hartland & LGB with Bachmann Wheelsets run perfectly and no meltdowns, on a summer day here in Southern Queensland (no sea breezes, like Ian) brass rail gets extremely hot. Metal is the only way to go.
I went to ECLSTS with my club, and i went and bought USA axles, and I put them on my LGB starter set cars, and also the short sided DR gondolas, and they run very well, and they were cheap, only about $50 for 20 axles.
Pardon the ignorance, but are the ball bearings in the aforementioned LGB sets between the wheel and the axle, and are they on both sides? Anyone have the part number?
The idea of plastic wheels on “model trains” or hobby grade garden trains seems absurd. Companies actually make non-toy trains with plastic wheels still? Probably made in China too!
I would highly recommend getting metal wheels put on ASAP. Especially if your track spends anytime in the afternoon sun.
Admittedly I’m in Phoenix where the temps get into the 100’s for 3-4 months straight! But nevertheless.
No no thats not so, I am happy with LGB plastic wheels, absolutely no problems at all. However metal wheels with ball bearings are superior in my opinion. If they were no good LGB wouldn’t use them.
Have a look at my last posting on this subject, the LGB part number is covered there.
Mark, at ridge road station, aristo ball bearing wheel sets are $23 for 2 axles, and LGB is $25. I guess you are not talking about ball bearing wheel sets.
so $45 to $50 additional for each car is pretty steep, considering the cars, bought “right” are about $70 to $100. (I’m pricing used and ebay USA trains cars, Aristo Bachmann, etc. can be had for much less)
Again, does anyone have a less expensive way to get ball bearing wheels (not journals).
One of the problems with buying wheel sets, is that different people have dofferent ideas as to what is a wheel set. I think four wheels on two axles is a set; what do thers think?
sheesh… I want metal wheels… that’s for keeping the rails and loco wheels free of gunk…
I want the metal wheels to have ball bearings between the axle and the wheels, that’s for better rolling resistance, especially on curved track.
So, no plastic lgb wheels, no ball bearings in the journals.
So far, the San-Val wheelsets look interesting, $10 for 2 wheelsets, or one truck’s worth. Half the price of the Aristo, and much cheaper than Gary Raymond.
Anyone else find any other sources of metal wheels with bearings (as described above in this post)
A wheelset is usually a set of 2 wheels and an axle… like the piece you get on a real railroad.
I have never had anyone use the description “truck set”, but many sites say “xxx, enough for one truck”, since the definition seems to vary, you have to get it explicitly stated just what “set” means.
All my MDC Hoppers are fitted with USA trains wheel sets. I fitted some BAchmann wheels to a couple of the USA trains reefers I purchased that had plastic wheels on them and to be honest, they are OK but they dont have the weight that the USA wheels have. Plus the USA wheels roll easier. Just my humble opinion.
Bachmann certainly has 2 wheelsizes, if not 3. Yesterday I ran a home built water tank car that I built years ago with Aristo bogies & plastic wheels, today I had to clean all of the track, black crap every inch of the way. That tank is staying on the spur from now on. I agree with Ian about LGB plastic wheels, they use a very durable plastic that doesn’t leave crud everywhere. Any other make you have to fit metal if it’s supplied with plastic. Is it right that USA are now fitting metal wheels as standard? About time!
Cheers,
Kim
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