I’m In the process of collecting rolling stock for my layout At this time I’m just storing in my closet But I’m thinking about adding metal wheels Can any one inform me of the Pro’s and Con’s if any of these I will plan on over 500 cars at this time I’m at 20% of this goal
Metal wheels are definitely worth fitting. They’re usually more concentric than plastic ones (so reduce or eliminate “wobble” in cars), tend to keep the rails cleaner (presumably in much the same way as the real thing does!), and make a more realistic sound over rail joints. You do need to be careful as not all cars use the same axle lengths - others will be able to advise on this question. They’re also worth fitting as you collect cars, as this will spread the cost out more than having to retro-fit in large numbers later on. Hope this helps!
Adding metal wheels will make your cars run better, your track cleaner, your engines pull more, and your wallet lighter. It’s worth it in my opinion, but I only have 30 or so cars on my pike–I chose to spend money on a small railroad in addition to the rolling stock.
Go ahead and get Intermountain’s bulk packs of wheels–if you have 100 cars I suppose you’d need four of their 100-packs, unless you have six-wheel cars. That should keep you busy for a while, and preserve open space in your closet.
There’s an interesting article in the March RMC, on using narrower wheelsets for better appearance. The author also refer to using smaller to scale couplers too. He has photos of tank cars side by side with both sizes to show the differences. If I were to add metal wheels to my fleet, that’s how I would go. (My fleet is mostly static, as I do my efforts on modules, no home layout.).
Bob Boudreau
Indeed–I’m a big fan of the Intermountain semi-scale wheels, rather than the larger RP25 profiles. They look very nice.
Next question I work over seas (Iraq) Who has the best prices on the intermountain wheels
Next question I work over seas (Iraq) Who has the best prices on the intermountain wheels Sorry about the twice post computers are not the best at my location
IM’s enjoy a good reputation but not all axle lengths are created with equal lengths.
Thanks to Nigel of this forum here’s a few just for starters.
P2K 1.008", IM, 1.013" and KD 1.018".
That would be Tom of http://www.tomstrains.com/
I am slowly replacing my plastic wheels with metal ones, and they glide SO WELL. I was running a 50 car train on my 1 scale mile main, and there was derailment at the front, which was on the downhill, and the tailend was still on the uphill, and to my surprise, the train started rolling uphill, away from me! Then I realised that most of the train was on the uphill, now going down and backwards. the 50th car derailled at an s-bend, and, well, 49 cars have a lot of momentum. All this because metal wheels roll better than plastic.
Trainboy
I’m going with the majority here. Everything gets IM metal wheels before it ever touches the track. As was mentioned above, buy smaller quantities now so you don’t have a huge lump sum expenditure when you are ready to build.
Tom
PS You’ll find out really quick where your track is not level!
Several different companies manufacture metal wheels and INTERMOUNTAIN suring is a good choice that you desire. Also, BRANCHLINE recently changed their metals wheels production to be just like those from INTERMOUNTAIN. 33" and 36" I would be happy to have you email a supplier that sells box of 100 for $60 plus shipping at
redison@grandecom.net They carry Intermountain, Branchline, JayBee and others. They also ship overseas. Be careful working in IRAQ and good luck on building up that group of cars.
Greetings all
I just caught this thread
So all you have to is buy these wheelsets and stick them in the plastic trucks on your existing rolling stock?
I was under the impression I had to buy all new trucks with metal wheels.
Sean,
In many cases, that’s all I need to do. Most of my rolling stock is Athern BB. I pop out the wheels, slip in the IM and they’re on the track. You may need to buy the tool to ream out the journals. I haven’t had that problem yet but as I get into different brands of kits, I may have to.
Good luck and keep your head down!
Tom
For my Athearn blue box cars I use the P2K wheels in the Athearn truck.I found for me this is the best combination that fills my needs.However,I am looking at the Genesis truck with the working roller bearings for the cars I use on my home layout.[:D]
Related question. [?] Do metal wheels cause any problems with DCC reversing loops if the train is longer than the reverse loop? I know that can be problematic if a lighted Passenger train is longer. Just wondering.