I’ve recently switched to N scale, and I have picked up a few freight cars. I am going to be switching out the plastic wheels for Intermountain metal wheels. What size sould I use? What is the difference between 33" and 36"? Are they both prototypically accurate for the 1970’s?
Fox Valley is the best, but they’re a little pricey. Also, they’re very precisely made, so they don’t tolerate sloppy track work.
Atlas makes good metal wheelsets, but they have steel axles, which make switching with magnetic uncouplers a little dicey.
Make sure you get the correct axle length if you’re replacing micro trains wheels.
Lee
Back in the transition era, 33" wheels were used on most freight cars while 36" wheels were used on passenger cars. If you’re modeling freight cars that were built in the 50’s and 60’s and in traffic in the 70’s, then 33" wheels are probably correct. 36" wheels were and are used on higher capacity cars (like, say, 100 ton hoppers) and would be entirely appropriate for a fleet of new high capacity cars of the 1970’s. That being said, the difference in diameter between N scale 33" wheels and 36" wheels is only .01875", hardly something that will jump out at a casual observer and slap him/her across the face. I don’t know too many people who carry a micrometer with them and if you need a micrometer to tell the difference, it probably doesn’t matter all that much.
I’m experimenting in N scale rather than converting, in part due to the urging of my wife and for other reasons too lengthy to go into. After looking at several low profile wheelsets, I chose Fox Valley’s as they appear to be the best visually and have a good reputation operationally. They’re not cheap, but I managed to get a bag of 100 33" sets (Micro-Trains axle length) for $55 which means it costs $2.20/car to convert. MB Klein sells FVM wheelsets for about 20% off MSRP, although I got mine through an LHS.
Andre