Plastic wheels

[tiger]

Hi all.

 

I’ve taken delivery of some of the latest Farish Mk2 coach releases, specifically:

 

374-996 Graham Farish N Gauge BR Mk2 TSO & Mk1 BG 2-Coach Pack

 

374-712 BR Mk2A TSO Tourist Second Open BR Regional Railways

 

The overall standard of livery application is excellent. However, I was disappointed to discover that they are fitted with moulded plastic wheel sets mounted on pinpoint metal axles. The moulding appears to be neatly done and the wheels run true. 

 

This seems to me to be a retrograde step in quality, especially given the ever increasing price of new models. Would this be regarded as acceptable in larger scales such as OO or O? Or, am I thinking about this the wrong way - perhaps the price would be even more expensive if metal wheel sets were supplied, as per previous releases, and this is a necessary cost-control measure.

 

What do people think?

 

Cheers

 

Tom.

[Phil Bullock]

Would not cut the mustard for me in 4mm …. Plastic wheels are verboten on my layout to avoid crud.

 

Cheers

[Izzy]

Totally unacceptable I’d say. One of the downsides of Peco has historically been the plastic wheels, and I’m sure I read somewhere they were changing over to metal rimmed ones as the wagons are being revised at the present time. Although Graham Farish were originally plastic in the very early years they have been metal for as long as I can remember, with the more recent blue riband offerings being the first with correctly sized wheels. The heft of the metal wheels is very helpful with regard to decent running. Oh dear. Very retrograde.

[John M Upton]

Just looked at the pictures on Rails site of the ScotRail pack and concur they look like plastic to me.  Just became a no sale I am afraid as forking out an additional £15+ on replacement metal wheelsets takes it a step too far.

 

What are they playing at?!?

[MikeParkin65]

Plastic wheels are a thing of the devil - not acceptable in any scale apart from Lego imho. Crud spreading must be an either bigger problem in 2mm - surely doesnt take much to interrupt current pick up?

[AY Mod]

Calm down!

 

This response by Bachmann...

 

I am pleased to confirm that the wheels fitted to these, and all Bachmann Branchline/Graham Farish models are made of metal. We have recently introduced a new blackening process for wheels like these coach wheels which provides a uniform black finish to the wheels and axles and the wheels of the models in question are treated with this process. Previously the wheel faces would have been painted black which contrasted with the metal surface of the tyres and wheel backs. Whilst not applicable to these particular models, a further painting process was and still is required to add the white rims should they be required for any particular model and in these instances, our white wheel rims receive multiple coats of white paint to prevent any opacity, such is the level of detail to which Bachmann models are produced.

 

[davebem]

My red parcel BGs that were released fairly recently have black wheels that look plastic.  The axle is normal blackened metal we are used to, then the wheels look like they are painted satin black (or plastic), they are indeed metal.

[ikcdab]

On 28/04/2022 at 06:34, tiger said:

However, I was disappointed to discover that they are fitted with moulded plastic wheel sets mounted on pinpoint metal axles.

Isn't it a simple test with a magnet to determine if they are plastic or steel?

[Halvarras]

Amongst my more recent purchases were a couple of Bachmann's OO gauge ventilated vans in Rail Stores grey and pale blue livery and I noticed that the metal wheels now have a fully-black finish. Without digging it out to check I think the wheels on my Mark 1 POT vehicle are likewise. I admit, a little disconcerting at first glance but far better than wheels which appear to be chrome-plated.......😎!

[tiger]

Hi again

 

Sorry for putting everyone in a spin! Thanks @AY Mod for the quick clarification from Bachmann. I should have looked at the wheelsets in question more carefully before posting.

 

Here is a picture of one of the relevant wheelsets removed from a ScotRail Mk2 TSO. The black finish is certainly very effective in making the wheels look like black plastic. However as you can see I've burnished off the blackening from part of the wheel rim surface (10 seconds rubbing with a track cleaning block) and the underlying material is clearly a steel / silver coloured metal. The other wheel rim is also showing signs of the metal showing through as the blackening wears off after a few laps around the layout.

 

 

I don't know what metal/alloy has been used for these wheels. Neither the wheels themselves nor the axle is attracted to a strong magnet (field magnet removed from an old Farish DMU motor). It looks less "yellow" than Nickel Silver. A quick test on other Farish coach wheels shows that the  "chemically darkened" wheels we have become accustomed to, used on Chinese-produced Farish rolling stock up until these releases, are not attracted to the magnet either (neither wheels nor axles) whereas the Poole era "pizza cutter" wheels - plastic wheels with bright metallic wheel rims with deep flanges, running on metal pinpoint axles - have axles strongly attracted to the magnet, but the metallic wheel rims are not attracted.

 

Sorry again for the misleading original post. I hope I've made up for it somewhat with these observations.

 

Cheers

 

Tom.

 

Edited May 3, 2022 by tiger

[Les1952]

All you need is mazac.......

 

or not!

[woodenhead]

11 hours ago, Les1952 said:

All you need is mazac.......

 

or not!

Mazac wheels, the only wheelsets that grow with use.