Re-wheeling Tri-Ang stock - a "how-to"

[TT-Pete]

Frank asked about re-wheeling Tri-Ang stock. This is how I do it:

 

For this exercise I am going to re-wheel a Tri-Ang brake van, a box van and two coach bogies:

 

The first step is to remove the original axles and wheels. For this I use a pin vice drill with a 1.8mm shank drill inserted the wrong way so that the blunt end can be pressed against the end of the axle to push it through. The protruding end is then pulled out with a pair of pliers.

 

The axles have a spline on one end to prevent them from falling out, this means you have a 50/50 chance that they are going to either be difficult to press out in the first place, or require a good pull with the pliers to get them out the other end.

 

With the wheels and axles out, all the axle holes need to be drilled out with a 2mm drill in the Dremel drill so that the flangeless pinpoint bearings will fit into them:

 

I am going to be using 12mm gauge solid metal wheelsets as supplied by 3SMR; 9mm diameter for the wagons, 10.5mm diameter for the coach bogies.

 

This picture demonstrates the next problem to be overcome, the axles are 20mm wide and the inside chassis frame is 17mm, so they can’t just be dropped in.

 

If the sound of the dentist’s drill sets your teeth on edge, then you are not going to like this next part!

 

Using the Dremel, drill a vertical slot (shown by the red arrows) on the inside face of the axle box and round off the leading edge using a grinding bit (green arrows):

 

Every now and again trial-fit the wheels and continue drilling/grinding until they slot in place. These are very nearly there:

 

Eventually with a bit of pressure (but not too much otherwise you blunt the pin-point axle ends) the wheelsets click into place:

 

Now the 2mm diameter rimless bearings (also available from 3SMR) can be inserted into the axle holes:

 

A shim of 0.5mm thickness plasticard is inserted between the wheelset and the chassis on one side to ensure that the wheelset is centred and the bearing is then inserted on the other side with tweezers:

 

This can be a bit fiddly; expect a few bearings to “ping” off into space just as you think it’s seated in the bore (I lost about 3 of them in this exercise!), sometimes the bore isn’t as smooth as you thought, or the bearing has a slight lip on it and you have to exert a surprising amount of pressure to get it firmly pressed against the axle pin-point.

 

When in place, put a dab of superglue on the bearing end, but not too much as it can “creep” past the bearing and glue the axle solid.

 

When dry remove the shim, turn over and push a bearing in on the other side. Before gluing the second bearing make sure that the wheel turns smoothly and without any slop.

 

A lick of matt black paint to cover the bearing ends and any scratches to the chassis and it’s time for running in:

 

With a drop of oil into the bearings and some solid running-in, there you are: smooth and free-running rolling stock.

 

3SMR for wheelsets and bearings can be found at: http://www.3smr.co.uk/index.html

 

[fallen]

Many thanks for posting this Pete.

 

It looks fairly straightforward but there is nothing like a few pictures to make sure you set off on the right foot and this should help an awful lot.

 

I shall get my order in to 3SMR and have a go.

 

Frank

[TTJohn]

A thank you from me as well Pete a very useful and practical article.

 

Regards

 

TT John