Scale HO wheels, Pros & Cons

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
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For starters, I agree with some of the previous posters that true scale wheels are not a good mix with NMRA standard track. That said, the “semi-scale” (.088) wheels will work very well with NMRA track, with the exceptions which I’ve noted previously. Straight track will have no problems. The only “issue” may be with turnouts (switches). If you have Atlas “snap” switches, I would replace them immediately, whether or not you go with different wheels. They just are not reliable over the long haul. Other types should be checked for non-standard flangeways in the frogs and guardrails, and modified as necessary. Often it’s as simple as gluing a strip of styrene to the inside of the guardrail, to make the flangeway smaller.

If I were you, I would change out the wheels on maybe 3-4 cars, and haul them around the layout, noting if there are any problems. Then address the ones you find, and don’t sweat the rest. You may find that only certain brands of switch cause problems, in which case, you always have the option of replacing the switch, if you can’t figure out how to fix it.

I love the look of the semi-scale wheels, especially under cars with open ends or frames, like tanks and hoppers. I’ve changed well over 100 cars to sprung metal trucks with semi-scale wheels. I love it!

22

I’ll have to pick up a few sets and give them a try. I do have some snap switches but an earlier poster said he had no problems with them…

23

Funny - I have one of those lovely little E7sd Atlantics, and have no problems at all, especially with wheel drop. I haven’t changed out any of the wheelsets on the loco.

The “wheel drop” I refer to happens because the tread of the .088 wheels is narrow enough that the wheel drops into the frog throat, instead of riding across to the point to pick up the railhead. This becomes significant when using code 100 rail. Code 83 rail would not have as noticeable an effect. Run one through a turnout very slowly and watch what happens as the wheel crosses the frog. Then compare it to a standard 0.110 wheel set. You’ll see what I mean.

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So I still have’nt seen what the price is for semi-scale or scale wheels unless I missed that post.

25

I have noticed that IM regular wheels and semi-scale wheels are about the same price. Reboxx wheels are about the same price also. Around $10 for 12 wheels.

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Well names have been thrown out to ya…intermountain, reboxx, proto87, NWSL, etc. Here are the websites that you would have found if you’d have googled the names:

http://www.proto87.com/model-railroad-weelsets.html

http://www.reboxx.com/wheelsets.htm

http://www.imrcmodels.com/ho/hoacc.htm

http://www.nwsl.com/wheelsets/ho-and-p87 nickel-silver wheelsets

I’ll leave the rest up to you. [:)]

27

I think you’ve gotten some good advice here already, but I’ll give you my experiences so far.

Since I’m in the process of building a layout and a roster, I’m getting wheelsets as needed. However, since most cars come with metal wheelsets nowadays you don’t necessarily have to replace them right away.

My original plan was to go with Proto:87 standards. I’m modeling all diesel right now, largely due to the availability and price of New Haven steam. As a result, I wasn’t initially concerned with steam wheels. I’m also (semi-)handlaying my track, using Central Valley switch ties and other parts from Proto:87 Stores. Andy has standard HO, Code 88 friendly, and Proto:87 frogs available.

I’ve used standard, code 88 and proto:87 wheelsets. The Proto:87 really look significantly better, but primarily from the end. From the side it’s still noticeable, but not as much. BTW, I believe RP-25 refers to the shape and size of the flange, and I’m pretty sure Code 88 wheelsets all use RP-25. They just have scale or near-scale width treads.

In the end I’ve decided to go with Code 88 wheelsets. The reason I’ve settled on this is some of my operating buddies have New Haven steam, and if I stay away from Proto:87 they can bring them over for ops sessions.

The Code 88s look very good, and should work OK on any available turnout that’s in gauge. That’s the real key, and regardles of what wheelsets you use you should be checking and correcting the gauge of your turnouts to make sure they are in spec.

As for price, the Code 88 are comparable, if you’re already planning on replacing all of your wheelsets. I build a lot of kits, including resin kits, and some trucks are available with Code 88 wheelsets (Tahoe Model Works for one). It’s certainly a lot more ‘affordable’ if you’re setting them up as yo

28

Mine’s the E6 “Lindbergh” engine.

I measured the wheel tread and it is extremely narrow.

As soon as the first pair of drivers encounters the frog gap, the whole thing nosedives. I tried putting in a stiffer pilot truck spring, as I’m not really concerned about tractive effort (this loco will only need to pull 2 or 3 Bachmann P70 coaches), but didn’t have too many options for tyhat spring. My next move was going to be trying to redistribute the weight. That’s when I noticed how thin the driver treads were. At that point my plans changed to seeing about replacing the drivers. Now I’m contemplating kitbashing a new mechanism from a Bachmann K4. That would give me both rail pickup on the drivers as well.

Before I shifted hobbies (I’m currently engrossed in rerstoring a 1966 Dodge Coronet 383 car), I was looking at buying a Bachmann spec 4-4-0, to see how that tracked.

Wow, how many times can I say Bachmann in this post?

At least it is in a positive way[:)]

…and no, I don’t have man

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My double deck, double track main 23x12 is all P87. It is no more difficult than hand-laying RP25, and if you like flex track instead, it works fine on that, too. I hand build my switches, so it’s all the same to me. Once you build it right the first time, it is as reliable as RP25, and looks flat-out awesome. I don’t model steam, so no problem for me, but steam in P87 requires a lathe work on the wheels.

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Even back in the 1960s, imported brass steam locomotives from Japan had wheel widths narrower, often significantly narrower, than NMRA standards of the time, although not as narrow as P87. Linn Westcott, then editor of MR, wrote an editorial on the subject to the effect of, in theory we should be having all manner of problems with these narrower wheels on our NMRA standards track – but is anybody actually having problems? He clearly was not. The audience for MR back then was likely to include more guys who laid their own track, and MR was not really aimed at the RTR/18" radius group.

Westcott was trying to generate some discussion about whether the NMRA standards, which had been thoroughly worked up by some very talented and skilled modelers with engineering backgrounds, were too conservative, too “fail safe,” although he felt strongly that if narrower wheels really do work, then there should be NMRA standards that include them. He was a big believer in NMRA standards.

P87 wheels look great, even more particularly in photographs, and it is evident that a complete layout can indeed be accomplished using those standards. But to my way of thinking P87 calls for a really dedicated approach that few modelers are prepared to adopt, and I think for the “average” modeler either the NMRA standards or the visibly narrower compromise semi-proto wheels are the likely best and most practical way to go.

Dave Nelson

31

I’ve added Intermountain semi-scale wheels to a couple of cars, and see no issue with them on my Fast Tracks turnouts.

On the other hand, I’m surprised how little difference they seem to make, appearance-wise. I expected to see a big improvement, but honestly can’t see that much difference from the fatter wheels. I just got new glasses yesterday, though, so I’ll go back and look again! [<:o)]).

I’m going to run them for awhile before I decide whether or not to convert everything over.

32

Some very good info throughout this discussion. Thanks to all who contributed.

May I suggest an old trick for those with “fat” steam drivers? Most of the electrical contact on such drivers comes at the flange, so one way to disguise a “fat” wheel is to paint the outside half of the tire black. One way to do this is to paint the entire tire, then run the model upside down with clip-on leads and clean off the paint to the inside with a Q-tip moistened with acetone. WARNING: The acetone won’t care what paint it eats, so be VERY careful not to get it on painted surfaces you want to keep painted! Also, acetone definitely will eat styrene plastic, so keep it away from that too!

If this trick does not allow for acceptable electrical contact, wheel to rail, you also can add a phosphor-bronze contact shoe made from, e.g., the Atlas custom switch contacts. The tips of the “T” are bent upward so they don’t catch on switchwork or guard rails. But, I find that Floquil paints work fine here.