Metal wheels for freight cars


rgeiter

rgeiter

Conrail Quality
Sorry if this was already discussed in the past.

A long time ago the only “quality” metal replacement wheels available were KD. I bought a lot of them...A.LOT! The problem was, then and now, was the blackened wheels would make my tracks dirty. It was annoying but I dealt with it.

Nowadays, those wheels are are clean and not a problem. I’m replacing the last of my plastic wheels with more metal wheels. All of my E&C car shop bathtub hoppers now have the Athearn Genesis trucks and they are awesome! (and expensive!) Some of my other cars have Jaybee wheels (remember those?), some Intermountain and some Life-Like Proto 2000 wheels.

Now on to the question. What are your preferred replacement wheel sets. I just ordered another 100 intermountain 33” metal wheel sets. Used them before and they’re not blackened.👍 I also have their little tool for de-burring the trucks. Works well.
 
My favorite that are no longer available are the P2K ones before Walther's bought them. The newer Proto ones that they introduced are just too shiny for me. I now use either KD or Intermountain and have been satisfied with both. I have not had issues with the KD blackening wearing off and dirtying up the rails. The Athearn ones that come on their newer releases are also good. I have not tried any others because no others are available at my LHS. At this point, 760 of my 800 freight cars have metal wheels. I just cannot locate the others yet!!!!
 
D&J RailRoad said:
I've been through all those wheel sets as well and have ended up buying the 100 set bundles too.
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Bought the 100 intermountain wheels for about $90 taxed/shipped. I’m guessing that’s a good price. Didn’t really look to long. Just wanted more non blackened wheels.
 
Some freight cars are 'locked' into a contained industry,...such as a steel mill complex,...so I wonder if its even worth while to replace their plastic wheels. For the most part very few of those cars are going to make extensive trips on the main lines.
 
beiland said:
Some freight cars are 'locked' into a contained industry,...such as a steel mill complex,...so I wonder if its even worth while to replace their plastic wheels. For the most part very few of those cars are going to make extensive trips on the main lines.
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For some, that will be the case. But for me, every car I own is on the layout and is interchanged.
 
I must say that I never paid much attention to what brand of metal wheel-sets that I purchased. But, I do know that I have InterMountain, KD's and Walthers. The most important issue is that I paint the wheel-sets Grimely Black, Roof Brown or other dark brown color. And, and to some wheel-sets I add some weathering powder.

It's important, at least in my opinion, to paint not only the wheel-set faces but also the axles and rear face of the wheels.

On my fleet of ore cars that are 90% complete in their transformation from stock to custom weathered. These cars have a mix of brands and I never notice any difference in their operation. I thinks there's is about 50-60 ore cars that are completed, or close to being finish.

Thanks.

Greg
 
I standardized in Intermountain some time back. Just paint the wheel faces with grimy or oily black, or a dark rust if you're a more modern era guy. I prefer metal axles to plastic ones, as the club required cars to be equipped with resistors so the signaling system can see them, but regardless, the Intermountains are the best I've found.
 
santafewillie said:
The newer Proto ones that they introduced are just too shiny for me.
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Paint pens work wonders.

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For what I prefer? I like Intermountain and Rapido. I try to avoid anything with plastic axles, especially if they have plastic needlepoints. Those end up with greater rolling resistance. That's fine for my cabooses, but I want/need my cars to be as free-rolling as possible. I like running big trains. As I am the lead car-knocker for my club, I take the same mindset there. Between my efforts and those of another guy we're now able to run 60 car ops trains instead of just 30's.

Intermountain had a supply issue for a while, something like Bachmann owned the factory that was making Intermountain's (and Fox Valley too) stuff. Bachmann realized they were losing money in this deal somehow and shut it down. Intermountain appears to have landed a new factory deal as their bulk wheels are available again, but the wheel profile is different from my older ones. BE CAREFUL with these new ones, guys. I have two boxes and so far every axle has been too tight on my NMRA gauge. Every axle has needed adjustment.
 
At the start of this week I had 164 replacement wheels from Intermountain. Today I have no wheels as they have been weathered, applied to the trucks and added back to the rolling stock. Today I am weighing cars for possible additional weight.

I am replacing all but my Tangent and Scaletrain wheels. If I could have purchased Tangents or ST I would have gone with those. The Intermountain though are a great replacement and a good value IMO.

TomO
 
Greg@mnrr said:
I must say that I never paid much attention to what brand of metal wheel-sets that I purchased. But, I do know that I have InterMountain, KD's and Walthers. The most important issue is that I paint the wheel-sets Grimely Black, Roof Brown or other dark brown color.
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Exactly what I do. It’s tedious but worth it in the end.
 
rgeiter said:
Exactly what I do. It’s tedious but worth it in the end.
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I've using Micro-brushes to paint the wheels' including the backsides and axles. I keep the brush in water between use to keep them fresh. I also like the idea of using Paint Pens which I have several sets and I will try to use them on some wheels.
 
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