When I was modeling in HO the thing was to replace any plastic wheelsets with metal ones. Is this true in N scale also? I have been buying several Atlas rolling stock, they come with plastic wheels, do I need to replase them?
I Know that in HO at least, that the plastic ones are supposed to get the track dirty faster but the plastic ones are noticiable quieter, does it make any difference in the rolling ability? So many questions on the same subject, thanks for any input. Mike
Hi, first welcome to N scale. I’ve been in n scale for quite a few years. Almost all of my rolling stock has plastic wheelsets. I like the plastic wheelsets. I have not had good experience with metal wheelsets. But I think that is becouse the original manufactures of rolling stock that provide metal wheelsets with their models were less than good quality. What I wound up doing is that any new rolling stock tath was not Micro Trains would get new wheelsets. Recently last 10 years there have been manufactures that produce good quality metal wheelsets Kato for one and probably others. I belive tath the majority of N scalers run on Micro Trains wheelsets
I wouldn’t go out of my way to change them unless they are problematic. I do Ho now , but on my old n scale pike, I used both. N scale track is easier to clean, so keep up with it & You’ll be ok .Keep in mind how small the contact areas are between the track & wheels on the locos .The newer quality locos can run as smooth or better than Ho if everything is properly built. Just My OP.
As you can probably imagine, there are two major camps of thought here, and then there’s a few that just “run what ya brung”.
The metal wheelset folks generally site cleaner track and a general weight shift of the car to a lower center of gravity. Some folks crave the noise too. My thoughts on this? I don’t know about cleaner track, but I can see the advantage that one out of two cars weighing the same, but one having a lower center of gravity, might have over the other because of the heavier wheelsets. As to manufacturers, I know that Fox Vally wheelsets are very nice.
The plastic wheel folks generally site ease of use / compatability, and electrically friendly issues as the main reasons for their choice. Low noise is sometimes an issue too. Micro-Trains is generally accepted as the best manufacturer of operating knuckle couplers in N scale. Since those couplers are most often truck mounted (a whole different discussion here), it’s often easier to swap the whole truck and coupler assembly, along with wheelsets, and just be done with it. Also, electrically speaking, whenever a metal wheelset crosses an electrical division point, like say the turnout in a reversing loop, just as the wheel crosses that joint there is a minor hot that occers. Some DCC setups are very sensitive and this can shut down the whole system unless you take further measures to absorb that short. With plastic wheels all of that is a non-issue.
And now for the “run what you brung” crowd. They’ll run anything…they don’t care. Jut put it on the rails and watch 'er go!
Me? I run Micro-Trains lo-profile wheelsets on everything. It’s good to standardize I think, and these wheels are a good option for me.
If you are a serious modeler with working signals, detection machines, or rolling ability, go with metal! If not, and you are an at home railroader with a small railroad without anything that will detect, you can go plastic. If you do go plastic, buy a track cleaning car, as you will need it. If rolling ability is a problem, I beleive that a firm named truck tuner makes a wheel/truck tuner.
Peace
I would definitely get rid of any plastic wheels and replace them with metal wheels. They add weight right where you need it and will stay cleaner.
After saying that, not ALL metal wheels are the same. I did use Atlas and Intermountain wheelsets. But once in a while I would get a derailment that didn’t make sense.
A Friend told me about Fox Valley wheels and I have since replaced all of my wheels with these and have not a single car jump the track! These are incredible wheelsets and are well worth the money. The only downside is they are hard to find and when you do find a dealer that stocks them, they go fast. MB Klein usually has them in stock, but they too run out at times.
These wheels come in 3 different axle lengths and 2 different wheel sizes (33" and 36") Since I only use Micro Trains trucks I use the .540 length axles designed for these trucks. Besides the great operation, these wheels look 100% better than anything else we have in N-Scale.
PC
Personally, I have a mix. I’ve already dropped a few bucks replacing MT pizza cutters with low profile plastic wheels, so I’m not in a big hurry to add metal wheels. But I do have some Atlas metal sets and some Fox Valley, so I can comment on them all…
Atlas low profile plastic wheels compose the majority of my fleet. I have absolutly no problems with these at all. As long as you have the right axle length, they roll freely, and track reliably. Aesthetically they’re a little spartan.
The treads are a bit wide, and the flanges are bigger than MT low pros or Fox Valley, but as I noted, they are pretty much bulletproof.
Lee
I too am like wm3798,
I run all wheels on my N-scale layout as long as they have low profile flanges and are in gage.
Yes the Atlas and Athearn seem to have the widest tread or wheel face as compared to MT but the MT’s axle is very unrealistic, however they all do the job.
As to the issue of metal verses plastic as far as keeping the wheels and or track clean, I do not have any issues with either one, but I have always had my layout in a clean environment.
For couplers, I use MT for most of my fleet and have body mounted as well as truck mounts, run them together and have no problems for the most part but when backing or pushing a long string of cars the body mounts are more reliable in that when using them there is no derailing, but I have large radius curves and only a few #5 turn outs, the rest being #7’s (all my track is Atlas code - 55).
Keep in mind that in some instances what works for one may not work for another.