i have walthers bathtub coal hoppers and want to replace with metal wheels.any recomendations.thanx in advance.
I like Proto 2000 Ribbed back wheel sets, I’ve replaced all my cars wheel sets with these (around 125 to 150 cars). I do paint the wheels with a gray and a little rust on the rib backed and outsides, I think they look very nice and the price isn’t to bad.
Maybe the Walthers cars you’re talking about already have these wheel sets. If you are going to replace them with some other wheel sets, I would be interested in the ones your replacing, if they are Proto 2000. If so, PM me.
I may be out to lunch on this but I thought ribbed back wheels were phased out before WWII, and bathtub coal hoppers were a much later development.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
Dave
Bathtub gons should have 36" wheels, so any manufacturer that makes that size would fit the bill: intermountain, p2k, kadee, reboxx, etc… I use intermountain semi-scale 36" on my gons. No performance issues and correct coupler height.
No you are correct. ribbed back wheels were phased out ( I believe it was because of the way they were cast, something about heat from brake’s being applied causing them to crack IIRC.)
Cast iron wheels, with or without ribbed backs, were last used on new cars in the 1950s, and banned from interchange service before 1970. They were the exception even in 1950, and exceedingly rare 20 years later. Most cars migrated to wrought steel wheels long before they were required.
According to this source http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/152100.aspx .
Bathtub type coal gons like the Walthers cars are much too new to have ever received wheels with ribbed backs.
My ‘collected’ information shows the following:
1958 - Cast iron wheels banned from new cars
1970 - Southern Foundry cast iron 33" wheelsets banned. Remember the ‘yellow’ dots on a black background in the 70’s. There was an ICC order to inspect any care with 33" wheelsets and immediately remove any Southern Foundry wheels. The yellow dot meant the car’s wheelsets had been inspected and were not Southern foundry wheels. My understanding is that Southern foundry may have been the last source of these wheels and once they were gone, steel wheels were the only option for existing freight cars. Of course the 40 year rule would have eventually culled out these cars…
Jim
Wow, you guys are truly extremely sharp on all the esoteric information on anything railroad related. Personally, I don’t know what Bathtub Hoppers are, therefore I would not have known that they would have used plain backed 36 inch wheels and because they are 36 inch wheels I am not interested in the O.P.s wheels. Let me back away from this thread, to allow you guys to help the Original Poster with his question.
Not quite, at least I don’t think…
As I understand it, the 1970 ban date applied to ALL iron wheels regardless of manufacture, and the problematic U-1 wheels were manufactured with defective steel by the Southern Wheel Company. It was allegedly a single bad batch of 33" wheels that was experiencing the failures.
Multiple wear wrought steel wheels are classified by the hardness of their tread into classes A, B and C depending on the type of heat treatment. Class U wheels are untreated steel. The fact that the yellow-dot stencils are almost universally known for association with “U-1” wheels suggests the affected wheels were “one wear” wrought steel.
Finding definitive information on the subject of freight car wheels is a bit frustrating due to all the conflicting sources, so I can’t say with certainty what all the facts are.
wp3503’s question has still not been answered!
“i have walthers bathtub coal hoppers and want to replace with metal wheels.any recomendations.thanx in advance”.
Can I suggest that you guys quit attempting to out do each other with who has the most in-depth knowledge on esoteric railroad information and help this guy out!
Hasn’t Tony answered this question already?
Kind of a strange thread.
Is there anything special or unique about a “bathtub” coal hopper?
Which Walthers car is it? Walthers puts metal wheels on all of its hoppers, so is the OP looking for a more prototypical metal wheel, assuming that there is such a thing?
Rich
Rich, you are absolutely correct! I must have skipped over Tony’s answer. I also answered his question. I suggested Proto 2000 wheels and only said that I liked their rib backed wheels. They do offer 33" and 36" flat backed wheels also and I feel it’s the Original Posters responsibility to re-wheel his cars with the right wheels, if that’s important to him.
I also wondered if his Walthers Bathtub Hopper Cars didn’t come with metal wheel set?
NP2626,
Most of the replies,came from what,you posted about wheel sets with ribbed backs,that you said you liked…
100 TON Bath tub hoppers didn’t have them…
Cheers,
Frank
Hopefully, we will hear back from the OP, but he has only posted twice on the forum, so maybe not.
Rich
Rich,
Go to Google search,Berwick Bathtub coal Hoppers, you will seaaa.
Cheers,
Frankie
LOL
Seaaa what, Frankie?
What they look like,who made them,etc…
Frankie,
Yeah, that’s fine, Frank, but it doesn’t address the OP’s question of what to do about wheel replacements. Any suggestions?
Rich
Rich,
Yes, Just,one,if they didn’t come with metal wheel sets and you want metal,replace them,with,36’’ wheel sets,not back,ribbed ones,if you want to be proto… bottom line…
Cheers,
I Remain,Frankie, LOL
That’s more like it, Frankie. [(-D]
Rich