In the G scale world, most of the rolling stock has plastic wheels. Manufacturers such as Bachman include metal wheels on rolling stock, but not really the best metal wheels in G scale. All USA trains Ultimate series rolling stock has metal wheels included and are really a good type of metal wheel. So when and why should you dump your plastic wheels? If you have a small indoor Christmas layout, you really don't need to convert to metal wheels. If you have a large indoor or outdoor layout you should consider installing metal wheels. Metal wheels help keep your track cleaner, they run smoother and change the center of gravity of the freight car you are installing it on for the better. Your train cars would also be more reliable without derails. There are many different qualities of metal wheels, so be careful when selecting them. Bachman metal wheels for example are a metal wheel made by just one compound of metal and thats it. USA metal wheels for example are made from 3 compounds of metal which include Nickle making them a strong long lasting wheel. They are also precision machined from a piece of metal roll stock rather than being made in a pour forged method like those cheap Chineese tools. When I went to replace the plastic wheels on my USA American series woodside freight cars, I went with USA Trains only because of the quality of wheel. There ae however many other manufacturers that make a good quality metal wheel. Another important detail when chosing a metal wheel is how do you want to run your railroad? If you want to run it more realistic like a rivet counter on code 250 track, you can't use the standard metal wheels on such equipment like USA Trains as the wheel flanges are way too deep and would hit the ties and frogs on code 250 switches causing huge derailments. There are specialized manufacturers that make metal wheels just for code 250 track which have smaller wheel flanges. Such wheels are made by Gary Raymond for example. In the same token you wouldn't want to run small whell flanged metal wheels on code 332 track, again, derailments could occur. Is it really worth the cost for metal bearing wheels? Such manufacturers like Roll E Z make a metal wheel axle with a bearing in it which reduces friction, especially in a corner. In a corner, the roller bearing metal wheels roll independent from each other on the same axle which allows the outside wheel to roll faster than the inside wheel. The regular metal wheels are fixed on a axle don't move independent from each other causing the outside wheel to drag in a corner and the sharper the corner, the worse it drags. Of course there would be hardly any drag on a 20ft diameter curve, but a huge one on a 4ft diameter curve. If you plan to run long trains on grades and in a few S turns, metal wheels are worth there weight in gold. If you want to run a 5 car train on a figure 8, it isn't worth the investment. For me, I invested the money only on one train which is headed by 3 of my USA SD40-2 locomotives. The reason why I chose to upgrade this train is due to the smaller drive wheels that the USA SD40-2 locomotive has and the fact I pull 18 cars with them on 8ft diameter curves. Without converting all of these 18 cars over, I was going thru traction tires every year. After the conversion, the 18 car train rolls freely than ever and have not yet had to replace a traction tire yet. The other USA locomotive powered trains have larger drive wheels, so the cost to change over the other cars is not necessary. The bearing metal wheels I picked out already have the bearings installed. There are bearing kits out there which just provide a bearing and you install it into a truck which is a pain in the butt for me as you have to disassemble the truck and drill it out for the bearing and press it in. So remember, there is metal wheels for code 250 track and code 332 track. Sometimes some of us commercial model train buyers forget about the code 250 track, wheels and switches that are out in the G scale world for those who wan more realistic trains.
I've got 2-3 more cars to convert to metal wheels and 5-6 more to convert to KD couplers. All but 2 cars use Bachmann metal wheels! Which actually roll very well, with very little, if any wobble. The others are also metal wheels, but I do NOT recall who made them. Those cars have a noticeable wobble to them! One boxcar with these wheels looks like it'll derail at any moment, with as bad as it wobbles down the track! I can manage about 10 cars with a single GP40. Although, I do experience unwanted uncoupling behind the locomotive. Due more so to the amount of weight behind the locomotive. Remove 2-3 cars, and everything runs perfectly! And I also suspect the this is due to the differences between body and truck mounted KD couplers. A couple of minor problems I can quickly and easily fix. Overall, I'm quite satisfied with the way my railroad runs!
I would highly recommend changing over to metal wheels. If you do any kind of running. It helps keep the track cleaner, cars roll much better. But the trade off is the trains get heavier.
My equipment is running on Aristo Metal Ball Bearings. They make a huge difference. Plastic wheels can leave a residue on the tracks that can interfere with your electrical conductivity. And roller bearings mean leass friction. With ball bearings even older units can pull more then they normally would. My units need to get ball bearing trucks but even without them the rolling stock is rolling much smoother. One more side note, even though it's not "wheels" its directly related. Those steel bushings on the aristocraft caboose? Ditch them. Their heavy and create drag and don't pull electricity very well. Aristocraft makes carbon fiber replacment bushings. They bolt up right in place.
DragonFyreGT, I have one older Aristocraft caboose left on my roster and would like to convert it to those carbon replacements, do you have a part number?
I can't find the part number. I'm assuming that they don't make them anymore or perhaps my information was wrong when I bought them from a G-Scaler at a garage sale. I used the Internet Archive site and still can't find the part number. I'll dig around some more and try to find it. EDIT: Confirmed that it is an Aristocraft Part. But I have been unable to find the part number. It's the outer brush contact in the assembly which can be seen in the exploded parts diagram. As for the part number, still working on that.
For the most metal wheels for the dollah try AK . He used to have a brick and mortar called SV, and since he LOVES trains and runs G gauge in his own backyard, he invented/manufactures several cool items for LS, including regular and ball-bearing G metal wheels in both blackened and silver finish. No brick and mortar overhead, and since he sells both USA trains and Aristo-craft wheelsets as well as his own, you'll see the price diff! now found on-line at the EB. Don't forget the dot.
You lost me here. You were discussing the benefits for, what I thought to be, rolling stock. Yet, this makes me think that you are discussing a wheel swap on your diesels. I think the idea that you are attempting to convey is that the SDs have greater tractive effort than the other locomotives...and you can't appreciate this as much if you don't convert. Also, on the wheels (I'm in the market for them right now), did you mean that three different alloys are used by aristo in their wheels? Something like nickel-silver wheels, steel axles, and phosphor bronze bearings...while b-man just NS or steel? I don't, on the surface see the advantage to a single alloy vs. three, but I do see what you mean on the wheels turning independently of the axle. Michael
DSP&P fan. What I was trying to say was the fact that I converted my rolling stock to all meta roll ez ball bearing wheels. These particular pieces of rolling stock that I converted is pulled by my 3 USA SD40-2 locomotives. I had big problems with burning up rubber tires on all 3 of these locomotives due to rolling resistance and friction since I run on 8ft diameter curves. By converting these particular pieces of rolling stockk over to ball bearing type metal metal wheels lowered the pull resistance of the entire train and now I have no traction tire failures on my USA SD40-2 locomotives. I did not do any wheel conversions on any of my locomotives. Some people actually buy regular axles from USA Trains and convert thier USA locomotives by removing the traction tire axle and puttin a normal metal drive axel in, this is common for those who run outside which I dont. I hope this clarifies everything.
DSP&P fan Next subject you mention you don't see any advantage on metal wheels that have 3 metal compounds over metal wheels that have only one type metal. There is a difference on the engineering side of this subject. A 3 metal type object is alot stronger and more resistant to corrosion over any single type metal object. One good prime example would be chrome bumpers although not common to be used today, but chrome is still used commonly on big rigs. Chrome bumpers are actually made of 3 metals, copper, metal and chrome making them strong, long lasting and durable to outside elements. Having a all steel wheel for example would not be good because it will rust and wear out fast. By adding a nickle silver to the metal you now have a instant rust preventative metal added. By adding a Brass, Bronze or copper into the mix actually makes the wheels wear longer. I know this won't make sense at first, but the first thing they teach you in engineering school is that a if you take a soft metal and rub it on a hard metal, the hard metal will always wear out first. I saw this first hand as trucks with plastic wire ties for example were never cut and left long from the factory. That uncut piece of platic wire tie will actually wear into a steel truck frame while the wire tie shows no sign of breaking any time soon. I have a friend into aviation and they taught he basiclly the same thig, aluminum will wear out steel, so forth and so on. So what am I trying to say? Wthout adding a soft metal such as bronze, copper or brass to the metal wheels, the brass tracks will actually wear out a set of wheels made of only steel rather that wheels made out of a 3 metal compund wheel.
Okay, I now understand what you were saying about your locomotives...we are on the same page on that issue. I am an engineer. You are discussing two separate concepts here. The first is metallurgy and the second is specific to material mechanics. That is the metallurgy part. "Metals" refers to two things: -metal alloys (Steel, wrought iron)...these are what we use to create stuff. -metallic elements (elemental iron)...the building blocks of alloys. Nickel Silver (which is a brass) gains its corrosion resistance from having nickel added to the alloy, basically what you have said. There is quite a bit of science between making alloys, not just mixing in metallic elements...and adding more metals doesn't necessarily make it better. The characteristics of an object created using three metal alloys side by side is quite a bit different than from one having a single alloy made up of three metallic elements...the science of metallurgy. That's the other part. The wording "3 metal compund wheel" isn't very precise, and so I don't know if you are referring to a wheel made from aluminum, brass, and steel...or it being made with a single alloy (e.g. Nickel Silver). Using different materials matters when you have a bearing surface. If the wheels do not have internal bearings, then there are two bearing surfaces: the tread and the ends of the axles. In such a case, the advantage comes from the wheels, rail, and truck bearings to be made from different materials...not the wheels being made from three different alloys. If anything, it is actually a disadvantage to use three alloys on rigid wheels (expansion & contraction could shorten their lives). So I see the issue here as being a question of what material B-man uses for their wheels, and what material you use for your track (the plastic trucks will be okay with the metal axles). Are we on the same track but largely using different language, or are we on different pages? At present, I'm leaning towards B-man wheels for my projects (a scratch built one of these: DRGW.Net Image Gallery :: D&RG Class 25 #1 - "Montezuma" and various pieces of rolling stock). Michael
Yes we are on the same page, some times I have a hard time explaining my point in writing so I'm better at verbal explainations of what point I'm trying to make. Also my terminology also differs from many others so that makes it even harder often to explain things, but as you can see I will take a different approach to writting a explanation if no one understand what point I'm trying to make. Also thanks for the better input as far as metals, I think that was a great point on the differences so people can understand the different wheels that are out there. Bachman for example uses cheaper metal wheels which only uses steel with no other mix of metals, you can also see they way the wheels are casted that they are very pourous, not something you want to leave outside to get wet and then frozen in a winter wonderland. I worked with engineers in a R&D department, they would come up with a design I would build it, run it and if it didn't work out it was my job to give input to make it work better.I took 2 years of mechanical drawing and 2 years of draftng, but after that never really pursued to become a engineer, rather I became a R & D tech for 10 years then after that place closed down, I went on to become a Diesel Tech for the next 11 years getting into computer diagnostics.
Language can definitely be a barrier. I've known many highly intelligent international students and professors whom just can't articulate their thoughts into English...or for that matter, many American engineers whom can't articulate their thoughts into either spoken or written English! I personally can't stand the steel B-man has used on their HO EZ-track...my son's Thomas has a hard time running a portion of the time due to gum/corrosion (despite all metal wheels). I also have my doubts about their large scale track, but I was able to buy it for a $1 per foot...so it will be fine for the temporary railroads around the house and the Christmas tree. Wear and tear isn't an issue at present since I won't be running the large scale trains often enough to wear them out. In my primary scale, On3, the best performing wheels are definitely NWSL...but I'm not willing to pay their prices for large scale wheels. I'd guess that they are tough to beat if you have wide curves...and deep pockets. It sounds like Aristo are quite good for tight curves and regular running. Michael
