A Question - Metal Wheels

[Paradise]

I have used both with no discrimination. Of course the Backman. Ones are not spoked, but that is not a problem on most prototype models.

I'm fairly certain the Lilliput ones have also been sold under the Bachmann UK brand.

 

[Trains and More]

Gizzy, you have me befuddled. Where does the dirty pick-up on the plastic wheel thread come from, when the metal wheels keep the rails so clean?

 

[Gizzy]

Gizzy, you have me befuddled. Where does the dirty pick-up on the plastic wheel thread come from, when the metal wheels keep the rails so clean?

It's just an observation that myself and many others have noticed.

You do seem to get a lot of crud stick to the plastic wheels which you can scrape off after a while, but you don't seem to get this on metal wheels.

I'm not sure of the science behind this, but I suspect static on plastic wheels rolling on brass track attracts the dirt....

 

[ColinK]

Hi, plenty of crud on my plastic wheels. Wife texted me at work today with ‘big parcel has arrived for you’.

I replied, ‘its wagon wheels’.

when I got home and opened the box she was dissappointed, ‘I had been looking forward to eating some tonight’.

The ones Arcadia sent me are branded ‘Liliput’ but are identical to the Bachman ones. I’ve fitted them to two wagons already. They certainly roll better. I also got a couple of LGB axles with pick-ups for my brake van so I can fit lights. I might use the old plastic wheels for wagon loads.

Thanks again folks for your help.

 

[PhilP]

So now Colin is sorted....

What are people's thoughts on wheelsets from GRS and ECR. Please?

PhilP.

 

[Dan]

For outdoors I like the USA Trains solid brass wheels as it gives a great low center of gravity (solid brass wheels are very heavy compared to rims and cast wheels) which is useful in the winds in my area.

 

[Paradise]

I think the Chinese metal wheels which are the same as what Al Kramer sells are brass inside. I haven't taken some chrome off to see yet but they are very heavy compared to sintured wheels like Bachmann. They are however a little smaller than LGB ones which may effect coupling operations if used with hook n' loop.

 

[Greg Elmassian]

Pretty sure Bachmann are cast pot metal... AML has sintered steel, last run of Aristo locos were sintered.

Check your bachmann wheels, I'll bet they are not magnetic, i.e. sintered. We call pot metal a low grade metal with mostly zinc... but it can have a mixture of metals. It does not normally contain steel because the cheapness of pot metal depends on inexpensive metals and casting, i.e. low temperature, which steel is not..

USAT are brass as Dan states.

Greg

 

[Paradise]

Pretty sure Bachmann are cast pot metal... AML has sintered steel, last run of Aristo locos were sintered.

Check your bachmann wheels, I'll bet they are not magnetic, i.e. sintered. We call pot metal a low grade metal with mostly zinc... but it can have a mixture of metals. It does not normally contain steel because the cheapness of pot metal depends on inexpensive metals and casting, i.e. low temperature, which steel is not..

USAT are brass as Dan states.

Greg

OK, I thought the Bachmann ones were sintered too from a past forum discussion. I just got my trusty giant woofer magnet from the fridge door and tested a Bachmann wheel. It won't stick!
Often I tie a rope to my giant magnet and drag it through the grass to fish for missing steel screws and other things I have lost. Works a treat. I usually collect a bunch of iron ore too. It's my Rio Tinto magnet.

 

[David1226]

At an early stage I standardised on Al Kramer's wheels, from the US, for the Claptowte Railway. As Paradise has said they are solid turned brass, which makes them very, very heavy. The weight gives a low centre of gravity and the inertia, once rolling, means that they will roll straight over most track imperfections. They are/were available in bright Nickel or dull blackened nickel finish, I opted for the bright ones which I then painted, They are very expensive but as all the Claptowte Railway vehicles were hand produced over a period of many years, the cost was spread over a long period. If you standardise on one wheel type, whichever you choose, coupling height will not be an issue as all wheels will be the same diameter.







David

 

[Ralphmp]

I’ve bought Slaters wheels from GRS. They seem fine in operation but the LGB ones look better.

Worst wheels I ever got came from the a vendor at G Rail in Stafford - came in LGB bags but made an egg look circular. Only found out when I got them home and vendor refused to reimburse or replace; apparently I must Have damaged them after he sold them to me.

 

[Paradise]

The wheels I have been getting from China which look the same as Al Kramer's like above are slightly different as they have a live axle. One side has the insulator omitted.
The image in the listing look darkened but they are chromed brass as far as I know. I got a slightly better price after asking for a larger order too.
They might work well with a brass wiper on the steel axle for lighting by flipping one axle the other way around. It would probably be lower drag than on the back of the wheel.

4 Pairs 8 Axles G Scale MODEL TRAIN METAL WHEEL fit for USA TRAINS LGB Bachmann | eBay

 

[Paradise]

I’ve bought Slaters wheels from GRS. They seem fine in operation but the LGB ones look better.

Worst wheels I ever got came from the a vendor at G Rail in Stafford - came in LGB bags but made an egg look circular. Only found out when I got them home and vendor refused to reimburse or replace; apparently I must Have damaged them after he sold them to me.

Do you mean that they were not round? Perhaps they belong to a circus train, on the clown car.
How could a vendor do that to a customer and how could you be blamed? In LGB bags and all. Geez!

 

[Ralphmp]

i think I still have them somewhere - if I find them I‘ll try and do a video of my wibbly-wobbly Wagon!

 

[Paradise]

Are you sure it's not the wheels being untrue on the axles. Eccentric or crooked?
Some Bachmann ones can be a bit cock eyed at times but you can usually pull them fairly straight.

 

[Fred Mills]

Over the past four years, the Bachmann wheelsets have greatly improved. They often were "Wobbly" and out of back-to-back gauge. They must have changed their "Quality Assurance" process, or something.
I just put a set on a freight car, and right off the card the wheels were very good.
DON'T Forget to lube your journals, when you change your wheelsets.

There have been many articles on the source of the black crud on the rails and build-up on wheels. The general consensus is that it comes from the plastic wheels themselves. Outdoor running helps to make it worse, especially when the rails get rather hot/warm in the sun. Just the friction of the plastic wheels on the rail causes minute traces of plastic, mixed with dust and dirt, to become the so-called "Crud", everyone experiences.
Good metal wheels do improve operations, besides being cleaner.
I did a test many years ago.The test consisted of 15 Bachmann plain, ordinary, flat cars, without loads on a major 5 foot radius curve, with about a 3% grade; pulled by a Bachmann 10 wheeler.
With plastic wheels on the flat cars, the locomotive would only pull 10 cars, up the curved grade. After replacing the wheels with the B'mann metal wheels, there was no trouble pulling all 15 cars up the grade. In both cases the journals were properly lubricated. I sure didn't expect that much improvement...
Using metal wheels of course, puts weigh down low where it is needed for good car weight, without putting stresses on the bogies, and their journals.

 

[ColinK]

I didn’t know you had to oil the journals on the wheels - I had better get it done tonight before I forget.

i do like that picture a few posts ago ‘Claptowte Railway’ brilliant.

 

[PhilP]

So, the reason GRS have boxes full of metal wheels, no-one uses them?
And, no-one will admit to buying metal wheels from ECR?

 

[dunnyrail]

So, the reason GRS have boxes full of metal wheels, no-one uses them?
And, no-one will admit to buying metal wheels from ECR?

In the Ruschbahn days Andy dabbled with a few sets of GRS ones but we found that they were not as consistant runners as Bachmann or LGB. If memory serves they had a slightly finer flange that caused quite a few derailments on LGB and Aristo points.