A while back I got the Athearn Napa Valley Wine train for Christmas. I can’t remeber if it came with metal wheels, or if I put them on. Well, this train was put away for a while until about 6 months ago. I put it on my track and it became the frustration of my layout. At first I tried to weight it a little heavier. Didn’t work. Moved on to something else and let it sit. Yesterday I decided that it had to make it around the track without derailing at least 10 times or I wasn’t going to work on anything else. So, there I watched this train derail on the problem spots of my track. I started first by fixing the smallest kink in the track. Nothing else I have derails there so I thought this would fix it. The three axle trucks still had problems. It aslo derailed at turnouts so I filed them a little and that didn’t work. Then, I took the middle wheel out of all the trucks with the same result of frustration. [banghead] Then I noticed that the wheels had tiny flanges. HMMMMMM. So, I grabbed my box of wheels and replaced all my metal wheels on that train with plastic ones. Bingo! Worked great and is also quieter. Who would of thunk it would only take three hours? [:D]
This is one major reason there is a strong push at the club to get us back to plastic wheels. The metal ones didn’t help keep the track cleaner, so why put up with the additional short circuits and NOISE…
Glad you solved your problem. Just a note here from my experience with three axle trucks. 99% of our model’s trucks are no sprung, both three and two axle trucks, and the only vertical movement is limited by the slop (clearance) in the journals. On three axle trucks the bolster is not located in the center of the truck (fore and aft), but between the middle and usually the aft axle which places the weight on those two axles primarily. Any irregularity or flaw in track work will cause that light axle to derail. The weight on the two axles won’t let the truck rock forward or aft like a two axle truck until the second axle gets to the dip, so at times the front axle is hanging in mid air. Place a car with three axle trucks on a piece of track and roll it slowly to the end and let the front axle run off the end and you’ll see what I mean. The center axle acts like the vulcrum of a teeter-totter. Ken
… I can hear the flames being lit already. This has the potential to be another long one !!! [:-^]
Mark.
Doh![banghead]
And here I’ve been replacing all my plastic wheels with “Intermountain” 33" METAL wheelsets!
Oh the HUMANITY!!![#oops]
I have never heard of this trend interesting.
I like the noise of the metal wheels. Makes for a halfway decent sound system for us poor folks!
I’ve always ran my cars with what ever wheels came on them without any problems, but have to admit that if it came down to it I’d have to go with plastic…
Tracklayer
…Sounds like he had a truck that was out of gauge. That is all.
David
I have a Bachmann 250 ton crane car that was like that. Every time it came to a curve or or turnout, it was off the rails. I checked the gauge of the wheels, they were fine. I then checked to see if the trucks were level. The front truck was warped, low at the left front and right rear and high for the right front and left rear. Upon close inspection I found the other truck had the exact same warp. I contacted Bachmann and they sent me replacement trucks (with wheels) free and no questions asked. The crane car rolls perfectly now.
Hmmmmm,
I’m in the process of switching to metal wheels.
Not only do I like the noise they make, but they roll alot better too.
And because they roll better, I can pull longer trains.
That’s what works for me and I’m happy with it.
If switching back to plastic wheels is what you like, then go for it. You’re preferences for your railroad are the only thing that really matters.
Craig
davidmbedard
What is that photo of that you send with your e mails?
I’m running on a hardwood floor with powerlock track. Metal wheelsets on rolling stock are like running fingers over a chaulk board with my set up. Believe me, you don’t want to go there. For some reason, engines are fine. I guess because all the wheels are powered.
Same here, you could not talk me back into plastic wheels EVER!
I made the decision about 8 years ago to get rid of the plastic wheels in my collection and go with Intermountain 33" and 36" as appropriate. The weight in the axles have improved the performance of my cars greatly. I tried the P2K wheelsets and the Kadee wheelsets to see if there was a difference. I found out that the Kadee axles would bind in every ruck except theirs unless I routed the journal. The P2K wheelsets are cheaper and did not meet my expectations and are being eliminated from the collection as soon as they are found. The plastic axles warps and leave the wheels out of sqaure to the rail causing excess drag and derailments. I like the Interountain wheels and plan to stick with them until something better comes along. IM makes a semi scale wheel that has considerably smaller flages and I have had a few problems wth the couple opf cars that have them. In my case the problem were not the fault of the wheels rather my trackwork was not strogn enough to support near prototype flanges.
For those of you looking to dispose of your metal wheelsets and axles, I would be willing to provide a home for them.
Amen! I love the clickty-clack. Though I won’t be swapping out my plastic wheels anytime soon. Peter
Um, real train wheels aren’t exactly quiet, you know…
The various items in my rolling stock collection, with some specific exceptions, run on the wheels provided by the manufacturer. The exceptions:
- Do not conform to NMRA RP-25. Pizza-cutter flanges, trapezoidal flanges and wheels without fillets between tread and flange become history as soon as detected.
- Have serious mechanical issues. I have encountered wheels with off-center and non-perpendicular axle holes. I have also had spoked wheels with metal rims and plastic hubs disintegrate for no apparent reason.
- Are at serious variance with the prototype. The worst were some brass wheels, 9mm diameter, installed in a series of four wheeled hoppers by their (marginal) manufacturer. The appropriate wheels are 10.5mm diameter.
- Non-conductive wheels on cars with electrical contact requirements. Some of my brake vans were built from kitbashed Athearn Blue Box components, but now ride on metal-wheeled trucks that provide power pickup for the lights.
In my experience, both metal and plastic wheels will pick up grunge when operated over infrequently used track in a dusty environment. My solution is to keep the wheels turning and the railheads bright - with traffic, not a Bright Boy. Clean wheels running on clean rail tend to stay clean.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - on plastic, brass and nickel-silver wheels.)
I banished all plastic wheels from my layout about five years ago, and haven’t looked back. The track is cleaner, the cars roll better, the engines can lug more uphill, and the cars just plain look better. True, while I was converting everything it dod cost a little more, as not only did I have to replace most of my wheelsets, but I also had to change a lot of my trucks (instead of going with more expensive, and more “precise” Jay Bee or Reebox wheelsets, I “cheaped out” and went with P2K. Since I only have one choice of axle length, I sometimes have to scrap out and replace trucks).
Plastic wheelsets have gone the way of the Dodo and Athearn boxcar on my layout, and I’m VERY happy with the end results!
The Athearn RTR metal wheels are junk. The flanges are way too small.
If you like metal wheels, brands like Kadee, Life-Like Proto 2000, Atlas, and Intermountain are good.
The only reason why I chose to stay with plastic wheels is because I’d have a lot of freight cars to convert over, and I just don’t think it’s worth the cost.