I’m getting back into HO and building some freight cars (some old Athearn, mostly newer Bowser, Accurail, etc). My take, somewhat inexperienced but based on others comments and experience so far:
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ditto to the metal wheels for DCC
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also, consider what best will keep the track clean besides not having plastic wheels; e.g., initially “gleaming” track as some forum threads tend to recommend, cleaning cars such as CMX, etc. The combination of stragegies may matter.
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I second the “Truck Tuner” option and also find that a micrometer is a good, relatively inexpensive (<$25) insight to what’s going on (i.e., to-be-replaced axle length vs replacement metal wheelset axle length…don’t add lenght as a rule). For instance, when upgrading my grandson’s Bachmann set, some P2K wheelsets didn’t necessarily help much whereas the Intermountain 33" did; I suspect the shorter IM (than P2K) were the key help in that case, moreso than a better shaped axle point. My key point is, the more data, the better. The Reboxx online charts are a frame of reference…they tell you the stock axle length plus their recommended axle length, but I go shorter if the IM (or P2K) work well.
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Given this (with the kits I’m using so far) IM has been my freight car default, though I will try the P2K 33" ribbed back wheels on older wood-side cars and use them unless the IM wheelsets are markedly better on the specific kit.
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My highly scientific test (ha!) is to roll the original truck down a long 2-3% grade I’ve got. In the worst case (Bachmann set freight cars) they didn’t roll downhill! Then I truck tune it, substitute the metal wheelset I want to try, and see if the new version goes well (i.e., how far down the grade and following level track). I tried truck tuning alone and, in the case of the worst Bachmann set items, the roll was still awful. It took a short