HLW Interurban wheels

A

atimberg

Alex T
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I recently bought a Hartland LW Interurban that has one problem: non-powered bogie derails on the frog of an LGB R3 switch. The wheels on the bogie seem to be a bit wobbly. Any thoughts/advice? What would be a good replacement for the wheels?
 

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Greg Elmassian said:
Gauge the wheels first, especially back to back. Check for any obstruction to the truck pivoting (put the car down on a smooth surface and turn side to side).

Greg
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Greg, must admit these were my thoughts, I also understand that LGB R3 have a bit of an issue with the check rail.
 
The issue will be what standard, and barring the gauge grossly off, then you roll the truck through the turnout and see if the back to back is too narrow and that is causing problems, or the gauge is so off that you are missing the point of the frog, looks like it would be easy to remove the truck and roll it through the points by hand.

Greg
 
As Jimmy said, LGB R3 turnouts have a notorious problem with the check rail on the curved side.

Having said that, it usually only gives the stock a bad jolt, and rarely causes a derailment.

Wobbly wheels aren't usually too much of a problem, so I'm with Greg - check the back to back first - one of the easiest ways is to line it up by eye with an LGB wheelset, then check that the bogie pivot is free to rock as well as pivot, and check that the wheels are running freely in the bogie sideframes - a little bit of side play always helps.
 
The gauge seems OK, but the plastic axles are not straight, as you can see on the video, Any suggestions what would be the best replacements? Also, the bogie is a single piece of plastic. Any tricks how to replace the wheels without breaking it?
 
atimberg said:
The gauge seems OK, but the plastic axles are not straight, as you can see on the video, Any suggestions what would be the best replacements? Also, the bogie is a single piece of plastic. Any tricks how to replace the wheels without breaking it?
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Well, I suspect the axles were prised in by gently spreading the bogie sides, so they should come out the same way.

Personally, I wouldn't worry about that amount of wobble - I have plenty of wheelsets like that (although I ditched my LGB R3 turnouts).

If you can get the wheelsets out, run them through the turnout with your fingers on the axle ends, just to see if you can spot the problem.

Otherwise, get your head down to track level and watch the interurban car run through very slowly so that you can see what derails where - this can often lead you to the solution.
 
As the trailing bogie appears to be the problem perhaps some added weight may help. Some flat roofing lead could be wrapped round the axle perhaps.
 
Looking close, the flange of the wheel rolls onto the frog. So, it looks like a gauge issue after all.
Just ordered wheelset replacements with steel axles from Sierra Valley. Thank you all for your helpful comments, much appreciated!
 
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