need help determining the wheel size for a Bachmann hopper car

[flywelder]

I have a Bachamn  made, N&W  black hopper car, with numbers : N&W12988 .
It has Kdee couplers.
it needs some axles, I am thinking of using metal axles and wheel type,.
But I don't know if it  needs  33"  or 36" and can't find  info to tell me for sure
I do not have the original box, I bought it used.

Can any one help by telling me which?

[jward]

most freight cars use 33" wheels, with some the slightly larger 36" wheels will rub against the car floor and otherwise impede their performance.

[jbrock27]

I agree, most do run 33" and of course, life is made much simpler when running everything with 33", but I will ask this anyway:

Does it have printed on the side of hopper, the numbers that designate the load weight?

[flywelder]

LD limit   reads 125000

But is that  not just  there for decoration?


My thanks to you both for your very helpful  information and great assistance!

[jward]

what jbrock was getting at is that as a general rule on the real railroads cars with a capacity of 70 tons or less would use 33" wheels, larger cars used 36" wheels as did passenger cars. the capacity of the car is listed as capy with the number denoting capacity in pounds. thus your load limit (ld lmt) of 125000 would be appropriate for a 55 ton car. load limit was the extreme limit of what the car could carry and was always larger than capacity. the third entry on the side should be lt wt, or light (tare) weight. lt wt plus ld lmt equals the design weight of a fully loaded car.

in the model world, most freight cars are/were designed to use the 33" wheels even if not strictly accurate to what they represent in real life. the use of larger wheels on these cars can cause problems such as mismatched coupler height, wheel treads rubbing the car floor, and problems with the pivoting of the trucks.

[jbrock27]

While Mr. Ward is correct in what he says and in what I was getting at, there have been times when I have built a kit or modified an old piece of rolling stock that I have replaced 33" wheels with 36" ones.  I have confidence though in my ability to get the coupler heights right and trucks rolling freely. No big deal.  36" wheel sets are as easily available as 33" and I have more than a few cars that have them.

As I mentioned earlier, running all 33" makes life much simpler; but you would agree that is kind of boring, no?

And yes, while sometimes that printed stuff is decoration (bc it is not always accurate, for example Built Dates) sometimes it can be a helpful guide to doing what you want to get done, in the way you want it.  Just like some folks that post here

And you are certainly welcome for the help.  Glad I can