I know this topic has been discussed before but I’m going to bring it up again. I have a RTR Walthers 30’ wood caboose (Great Northern). The trucks are placed on the frame such that when they turn the wheels rub on the end stairs (actually bind). I emailed Walthers customer service about this months ago but have never received a reply. Is there a solution for this (I could grind away part of the step) or do I put it on the shelf and admire it?
the goat
Another solution, if you don’t mind elevating the frame and body off the trucks by a scale 12", is shimming between the truck and the frame pivot. You can use a thin washer to make some distance between the truck and the stairs that way. Might only get you another four degrees of degrees of rotation on each side of the arc, but maybe that is all you’ll need.
gn goat,
I trimmed (beveled) the inside edges of my caboose stairs to eliminate the binding problem on curves. It helped some, but it’s still binds slightly. I’d rather run it than put it on a shelf.
Tom
I’m confused. [%-)] I put together several of Walthers Gold Series RTR C&O cabooses. I get no binding at all on R18s. But I did replace the wheels with 33" intermountain metal wheel sets. This shouldn’t make a difference though.
What radius are you using?
Don
I believe this problem was actually cited in the original product review in MR. You might still be able to locate it in the file of on-line reviews accessed from the main welcome page.
As I recall, the only solutions offered for this particular problem were to either reposition both trucks very slightly inboard of their current locations, or to grind off a little of the material from the back corner of each step.
CNJ831
Thanks everyone. I believe I’ll try grinding/cutting the back corner of the stairs with a Dremel to see if it will free-up the trucks a little. With a little weathering it should suit its purpose well.
the goat
Supposedly, Walthers will be retooling their RTR molds to eliminate this problem. Hopefully this is the case. I think their rolling stock has nice detailing. It rolls just fine on straight sections of track. It’s just when you get to the curves that you have problems with the binding.
Tom
4 years later…2011 and Walthers still have not fixed this problem. [:(!]