For some time now my Walthers Milwaukee Road Superdome car has given me trouble. It often derails. I have checked the wheels in gauge, filed down the screws as some suggest, and tried several other suggestions all to no avail.
Recently, I decided to solve the problem by replacing the trucks. Unfortunately, Walthers does not sell replacement trucks for the Superdome car (at least not online, I have not checked the parts department). However, new trucks identical to the ones already on the car might not solve the problem. I say this because it looks like the top of the truck subs the bottom of the passenger car sides.
So, I decided to go with heavyweight trucks (type 2410, part no. 920-2203). This “solves” the derailment problem. However, the replacement six-wheel trucks are missing the features found on the original six-wheel trucks (I presume a generator and what looks like what might be roller bearings). However, I am willing to sacrifice protype realism so that my Superdome car no longer derails. I know the rivet counters out there are swooning now, but so be it.
I just thought I would share this at least partial solution in case anyone else is struggling with this problem.
You could try shimming up the trucks with the Kadee paper washers, so there is more space for them to move freely, or trim a little off the truck or the underframe where it’s hitting. I don’t remember if I had to do anything like that with my Superdome, but I know I have had to do it with one or two other passenger cars. Theoretically Walthers cars can all do 24" radius curves, but I’ve found even on broader curves once in a while you need to do a little work to make it actually take the curve.
I thought about trying to use a Kadee paper washer as a shim, but the bolster pin is too big and the Kadee washers do not fit. I will probably go to my local hardware store and look for a suitable brass or nylon washer to use.
While a shim might solve my derailment problem, I wonder if it would create another problem in that the screws used for electrical pickup might not make connection with the pickup plates. As I do not currently light this passenger train, this is not an issue for now, but it might be in the future.
Before I place any car, freight or passenger, on my layout, I test to make sure it can handle a 24" inch radius curve. I have a special test board for this. Ironically, the Walthers passenger cars all past this test, but they act up on the layout where I have 32" and 30" radius curves. It is not always in the same spot that the problematic cars derail at, but I would also confess that my track work is not the best.
Other than the Superdome car, I have all my other Walthers passenger cars now “tamed” and running well on my layout. I have solved most of these problems by triming the ends of the center beams to allow the trucks to swing better. And in some cases I have had to loosen or tighten the truck screw. I verify that the wheels are in gauge and make any necessary adjustments. Lastly, sometimes just swapping the trucks around solves this issue. In general, most of the problems I have had are with Walther six-wheel truck heavyweight passenger cars.
My solution is to make my own out of milk bottle or yogurt container plastic or the plastic that tomatoes or lettuce come in. I have some various sized punches that do the trick as well as plain old scissors if needed.
I have a set of BLI SP Daylight cars to get them running reliably I added wheel weights (2 ounces), cut off the decoupling horns and converted to Kaydee couplers.