PhilM Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Can anyone clarify what cars havee 33in and what cars have 36in wheels? And what are peoples opinions on the best make of wheels to run on poorly laid code 100 track and which slot straight into a wide range of models including Athearn BB? Thanks Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Gwinnett Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Bit of a can of worms. As a rough rule of thumb, for modern cars 100t have 36inch wheels, whilst 70t have 33 inch wheels. But, wells and others will be different again. And there will probably be exceptions to that general rule. I think as one goes further back in time, smaller (33inch) wheels become more common - say on 40 foot cars. Don't be fooled into thinking the wheels in BB kits will be the right size - most I've seen came with 33 inch wheels irrespective of the prototype. I'll leave it to others to suggest favorite wheels - I rarely buy cars nowadays that don't have metal wheels, and if I do they get swapped out for Branchline whilst my stocks last. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Jon's rule of thumb is a pretty good starting place - i'd add that 125t cars can have 38"s - so things like articulated well car sets (Athearn Maxi-III for instance) are fun - 33" wheels (70t truck) on the outside ends and 38" wheels (125t truck) on the articulated joints. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Williams Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I believe that bi-level autoracks have 33" and tri-level autoracks have 28". Not sure what else has 28" wheeels though. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Rogers Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 i think the ATSF spine cars had 28" wheels Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Neil - yes, and their derivatives the Impack spine cars (later ones had more standard trucks though) - other intermdodal items of that period also had 28s, like Front runners/4 runners... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave1905 Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 The wheel size is related to capacity and clearance restrictions. Cars less than 90 tons have 33" wheels. Cars of 90-125 tons have 36" wheels. 125 ton & over can use 38" wheels. high profile cars may have 28" wheels. As far as the best wheels for bad track, don't use semi-scale or scale wheelsets, they have a narrower tread so are more likely to drop in. i would also stick with RP25 flanges (or equivalent). The old pizza cutter flanges can cause problems in switches or hit spike heads and ballast. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I usually replace like-for-like, so most stock now gets Kadee 33" or 36" wheelsets. I did have a stock of Intermountain 33" which seemed to suit poor track a little better, but lacked the detail of the Kadee wheelsets. I'd love to know how poor the OP's track is, I used to have a HO layout with 12" radius curves and found that once cars were set up correctly with the right amount of weight and space for the trucks to turn, running qualities were good. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Ref Intermountains, I always got the impression they were somewhat heavier than most axles, so rode a little better due to that, might be my supposition though! If you use magnetic couplers then don't get Exactrail ones, assuming they are the same wheels on their RTR cars then the wheels are magnetic. They are lovely wheelsets otherwise though, I tend to swap them for ones in cars that don't get used in switching service. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
298 Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 Ref Intermountains, I always got the impression they were somewhat heavier than most axles, so rode a little better due to that, might be my supposition though! You're right about them being heavier than most, but I never really found the car rolled with more inertia because of them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Wasn't thinking more inertia, but better tracking. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilM Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 Thanks to everyone - that's really useful. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 Just to hijack this thread with a query of my own. Which cars used smooth backs and which ribbed backs? And why the difference? steve (who bought 100 Code 88 Exactrail 36" wheels he can't use on his stock because they are out of period.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigZ Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 The ribs were there for reinforcement of the cast iron wheels to keep them from deforming during the manufacturing process that produces the very hard but very brittle 'chilled iron' wheel. Cast iron wheels were outlawed for interchange in the late 1950s sometime and banned outright in the 1960s I believe. Being very hard but brittle they have a nasty habit of coming apart at inopportune times. Steel wheels are not as brittle and not made the same way so no ribs needed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Gwinnett Posted March 24, 2012 Share Posted March 24, 2012 ... steve (who bought 100 Code 88 Exactrail 36" wheels he can't use on his stock because they are out of period.) Daresay one or other of us would buy them Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve1 Posted March 25, 2012 Share Posted March 25, 2012 Craig, Thanks for that. It's the sort of information that is useful and important but not readily available. Looks like I might be doing yet more wheel replacements... steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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