Hello, If I want to try out metalwheels on my MTL rolling stock, initally on my 40' boxcars, I have found Fox Valley Models 33 and 36''. Which one is the correct size? I would guess 33'' but I better ask first. If I have problems with the cars going straight in a Märklin crossing, an old thread, should I try 36'' instead? Thanks for any feedback Mikael
Mikael, Unless you have something special, 33". I've used the FVM wheels on some of my rolling stock and been quite satisifed. Mark
there is a minor difference in the flange on metal wheels from FVM and UWD but not a great deal. We have been running metal wheels mostly from FVM on Mr Dave's Golden Blackhawk and Central City layout and have had good success with cars getting through the 13 degree Marklin crossings. some of my cars have 33 and some have 36 inch wheels depending on that was correct for the truck and the car. I did not see any advantage for one over the other in negotiating the crossing. What I did find was that the longer the train the more trouble one had at the crossing and on long trains I did better with cars at the front of the train with body mounted couplers as opposed to truck mount ones, particularly on longer cars of 50 to 60 feet being nest to the engine. two loops of track had two of these crossings in each loop and another loop had one in it and we were able to run 20 to 30 cars trains through them routinely, while other operators only ran trains to 10 to 20 cars. these crossings were never trouble free but by replacing cars or turning cars around you could usually find a combination that would work for most of the day. regards Garth
I dropped a couple of cars with Uncle Wills wheels, and unfortunately broke a couple of couples. I salvaged the wheels by popping them on some MTL trucks. They had a tight fit and did not turn as well as they did on the original trucks. I still want to convert all my wheels to metal but am waiting for the new coupler system to show up before I do. I have not tried Fox valley wheels yet but they are on my list.
