I’m a newbie again after 20 yrs. away from the hobby…
I’ve started purchasing my lst new rolling stock for my next layout. In the past I almost always bought Athearn box cars, etc.
I saw an AccuRail outside braced wooden boxcar (with steel door) on a friend’s layout and was smitten with
the wonderful detail in a $9 box car.
The plastic trucks are held in with just a press fit plastic pin and are extremely wobbly. More so than any of
my older cars. Will replacing them with self tapping screws and better trucks be necessary. (I figured I’ll
have to anyway to be sure I’m in NMRA gauge, etc.). Will metal wheeled trucks’ screw always fit the
pin hole in the AccuRail line or should I look for a specific brand? Is the wobbly-ness a concern-it would seem likely to be.
I was going to wait until I had a fair amount of rolling stock before replacing wheel sets/trucks but may not be able to wait after all. Oh yes, I’ve been told by my LHS that AccuRail sometimes puts metal wheeled trucks in their kit cars. If that’s true, do they have screws or press pins holding them in?
I had the same problem with the Accu-Rail wobbly trucks, plus the pins can fall out at the most inopportune times, usually way back on the backside of the layout. I just pitch the pins and trucks and fill the holes in with epoxy. Then I drill a hole in each one and mount a new trucks with the appropriate screws. Sometimes a washer has to be added but in most cases not.
Your friend probably had one of the older Accurail kits with the press-fit truck bolsters and coupler boxes. All of the newer Accurail kits come with screws for both the trucks and coupler assemblies. As to the trucks themselves, I’ve had good luck replacing the plastic wheelsets with Proto 2000 33" freight car wheels. They fit right in and really improve the cars rolling qualities. I’d also recommend replacing the Accumate couplers with Kadee #5’s, as the Accumate have a tendency to ‘split’ on down-grades.
They’re terrific cars for the price, IMO. I’ve got lots of them.
New production Accurail kits have either 2-56 screws or #2 self tapping screws to hold the trucks on, and #2 self tapping screws for the coupler pockets. The trucks are good. The only metal wheels I have seen on their line is with the ‘Accuready’ RTR cars. I just clean up any flash, ream the journals out with the ‘tool’ and insert metal wheel sets. All of my Accurail kits have been upgraded with metal screws years ago.
Wow. Thanks guys for the quick responses. Just to be clear, for now, would merely purchasing a couple of #2 self tapping screws work to use the old press pin trucks I’ve got AND still allow replacing the trucks with metal wheel sets, later- or would I need to screw and tap once only, with whatever brand of truck(s) I’ll use permanently? (Do screws vary from brand to brand?)
I’d be comfortable filling with epoxy and using the trucks that came with the car for now if I can change over later should I want to… what brands and types do folks usually reach for lst when upgrading rolling stock to metal wheels or NMRA gauge correctness?
I never cared much in the past but now that I’m going with Code 83 and doing things more seriously
(operations, etc.) I care!
Thanks for letting me know. I’ll try to get the newer version from here on out. These 3 cars were from the local hobby shop’s shelves. I guess they’ve been there awhile.
I’ve fired off an email to my friend to see what he used/did with his cars. Now I know that
he might not have had to do anything at all, if his are newer and came with the metal screws.
They ARE really nicely detailed cars for the money and I have my sights on getting more if I get the trucks stable enough to feel more confident about them. The present ones are like watching an elephant with weak ankles on ice skates! That does tend to diminish the bargain aspect somewhat!
Any other ideas or suggestions are always welcome. Thanks!
If you don’t want to use the epoxy method, a quick and much less messy way is to use the streched sprue. Heat a sprue until it can be pulled to lengthen. Locate the approximate place to cut for size, glue insert and trim flush. I find placing epoxy in a small hole on the bolster can be messy if not filled just right.
One other thing, with the newer Accurail kits–if you fall in love with a certain car and a certain road name, Accurail also has separate car number decals available, so you can pull multiples of the same car and not have the same car number on every car. I bought a whole fleet of Rio Grande outside-braced boxcars and did that. Not that anyone else might notice (SURE, LOL!) but it makes me feel good.
I second the screw comments. I;ve seen some with the Accurail kits. I’ve not had any problem with the pins aside from one car. But I;m not working with a lot of tall cars.
^Has experiance, is using the 89 flats for circus train,… all 16 of them.
A No. 2 self-tapping screw should screw right into the hole for the pin. A #2 is a #2, whomever’s brand. If the hole’s too big, the old stretched sprue trick is a viable option. Epoxy would be much harder than the surrounding plastic - not a good situation for drilling, IMHO. The same trucks should work just fine. If not, take a coupler box lid from an old Kadee#5 (you do have a bunch of these lying around, right?), slice the center boss off carefully, and use it as a bushing. I put Reboxx wheelsets (the ones with the narrow treads) in all my trucks, including the Accurail ones. Reboxx’ wheelsets have different axle lengths for each mfr.'s truck sideframes - the Accurail Bettendorfs are 1.010" in length. They not only look better, they roll much better, too. And no side-to-side slop, either.
Thanks again. I’m getting a great and quick education in this thread!
I’ll definitely be going to a metal screw to tighten things up a bit and will only buy newer AccuRail cars
after this purchase.
Tom, Thanks for the decal/numbers tip too. I was able to get three different numbers this time, but I did forget that I’m now (finally) operating so I had to call back to the shop to ask them to swap out a car with a different number on my next visit.
Do these decals come with the new cars so that you can pick a number as you assemble them or is this an after sale/separate purchase from Accurail?
By the way, are there other brands of rolling stock that don’t come with screws and tight truck fits?
I’ve been out of the hobby for awhile now and I’m not familiar with some current products.
Athearn always met my needs in the past but now that I’m more period specific (1930s-'40s) I must look “farther afield”-or at least one aisle over
Quick Edit/addition: My friend just emailed me back. He recommended Central Valley or Kadee for replacements. He didn’t mention a particular size/model no. Anyone know if there’d be one for Accurail stuff that would differ from other brands of cars?
He also said that he didn’t have any issues with his press fit pins/wheel sets. I’ll try assembling the 2nd box car and see if that one’s better.
Years ago when I was in HO, I had quite a few AHM cars that used the pin/plug method to hold the trucks to the bolster. I glued a piece of styrene dowel from Evergreen into the hole and let it dry. I then drilled a hole and used a screw to hold the truck in place.
The decal sets are an after-sale offer from Accurail. The kit should carry a slip of paper showing the model # of the car you just bought, and sending the slip into Accurail will get you the decals. They’re not very expensive, and one set will do a whole boatload of cars, especially if you do like I did and just change the last number or two on the car numbers themselves.
As others have said, you can use a self tapping screw or a 2-56 screw. I usually run my 2-56 tap in the bolster, then use a 2-56 screw for the trucks. I think the Accurail trucks are pretty good; I ream them out with the truck tuner and use Proto 2000 33" metal wheels.
Some Accurail kits use a coupler cover with a pin. I shave the pin off, and drill a clearance hole in the coupler cover with a #42 drill, then I tap the hole in the body coupler box for a 2-56 screw. I drop Kadee #5s in, and attach the cover with a 2-56 screw.
Just a reminder, When tightening that #2 screw, do not ‘cinch’ it up too tight. Besides not allowing the truck to ‘swivel’, you may deform the bolster on the truck. I tighten mine up till they just will not swivel, them back off about 1/8th turn. Some folks like to back off one of the trucks a little more so that they get a ‘3 Point’ stance. This will help with uneven track…
