Round things called wheels

[robman]

Hi all. Can someone give me a heads up on replacement wheels for my rolling stock. I have a lot of well detailed and weathered older box cars (mostly Athearn) which came from a friend as he changed eras. The problem is that they still have the original plastic/delrin wheels and I wish to bring them up to scratch with steel ones. Needless to say I will need quite a few axle sets and I have try and find the best quantity for dollars and to be concious of this part of my budget (a new 2-6-6-2 is also in the budget somewhere). Thanks for any help, it will be appreciated. Cheers from over here. Rob. 

[Dr EMD]

Intermountain 33" wheels are $65.00 per 100.
On EBay, I get them for $57.00 per 100.

[jonathan]

Most metal wheels will be fine, you get what you pay for.  My experience has been that I need wheelsets from different manufacturers, depending on the equipment.  They are not universal as I have discovered.  Some trucks like kadee, some trucks like intermountain, some trucks like bachmann... etc. If you wish to stick with one type of wheel, you'll need a reboxx truck tuner (more expense).  My two cents.

Regards,

Jonathan

[Santa Fe buff]

The suggested standard is machined metal wheels. Kadee, ExactRail, Walthers, and other companies offer many of these. They roll smoother, and feature the new prototypical RP-25 flange standard. I recommend getting these, avaible in 33 scale inches, and 34 scale inches. I very nice deal, consult protype information or guides or online resorces for information on what size wheel for what. If you find a wheels is to wide, and won't spin freely, widen the plastic aclove for the wheelset to allow more space to allow free-rolling. If they are too small, do not use them, and/or find a secondary car to use them on.

It is suggested you use an NMRA HO scale gauge to check the wheels.

Joshua

[Chris350]

for enlarging journal boxes I've heard these are a good tool...
http://www.micromark.com/SearchResult.aspx?deptIdFilter=0&searchPhrase=Truck+tuner

[Jim Banner]

RP25 wheels are standard for H0 and have been for many, many years.  Scaled up to full size, PR25 flanges are just over 2" deep.  Proto:87 scale wheels have closer to prototype flanges - they work out to about 1-1/8" - still a tad oversize.  Proto:87 wheels with their smaller flanges and narrower treads look more realistic when the car is viewed end on in a close up photograph.  However, they often have problems with turnouts and other track appliances which are almost all made for PR25 wheels.  The only cars I have with Proto:87 wheels are presently awaiting conversion to RP25.

I am left wondering why Rob is changing wheels.  Athearn makes good wheels.  They have been producing Delrin wheels with RP25 flanges for at least 40 years.  Delrin (an engineering plastic of the nylon family) sheds dirt more easily than metal and Delrin wheels are quieter than metal.  Delrin is not affected by oil, track cleaners, or most other chemicals.  Don't confuse Delrin wheels with cheaper ABS and styrene ones which do have problems.  And Delrin wheels on steel axles allow you to adjust them as the flanges wear and the wheel set goes out of gauge.  Not that they wear much - they are slipperier than metal and don't scuff on the rails while cornering.  That in turn means you can pull more cars on curves.  The only down side of Delrin that I am aware of is that paint does not stick to it very well.

I suspect Rob is replacing his wheels because they do not roll very well.  This is more often a problem of old trucks rather than wheel material.  The plastic in the journals of the trucks accumulate dirt and the tips of the axles often get rough from dragging in the dirt.  Add to that some over spray from weathering the trucks and maybe a cat hair or two and it is a wonder that the wheels turn at all.  Reaming out the journals with a truck tuner or equivalent quickly clears out the dirt, leaving the journals clean and slippery.  Chucking the axles in a Dremel tool and polishing the tapers by spinning them against 400 or 600 grit wet and dry paper with a bit of light oil on it will get out the rough spots.  A final polishing with Brasso on a bit of rag will shine them better than new.  You will have to remove the wheels to do this - when you replace them, make sure they are in gauge and that the axle sticks out equally on both ends.  As you replace the wheel sets in the truck, add a puff of graphite (Kadee Greasem) in each journal to help the trucks keep their better-than-new rolling qualities for a long time.  If you ream the trucks a little too far and/or grind a little too much off the axle tapers, you may find the car sits a little lower on the rails.  Then you may have to add Kadee washers under the trucks to get the body mounted couplers back up to the right height.  Of course, you may have to do that if you change wheel sets too.

Jim   

[robman]

Hi all. Thanks for all the info and how quick you all were also. I especially want to thank Jim because he hit the nail on the head. The reason I want to change the wheel sets was exactly what he said, rolllng resistance and it appears that a reaming tool may just do the trick, I'll give it a shot. Thanks to all once again, if I can't get one here I can send for it. it only takes a few days. Cheers from over here, Rob.

[ebtnut]

Check your journals for dust and dirt that may have accumulated (the reamer will do that, too) and any dirt that may have gotten onto the axle ends as well.  When they are clean, a little touch of Kadee Grease-em (a dry graphite-based lubricant) will make those trucks really roll.  The dry lube won't tend to attract dirt like regular oil or grease does.