KD/MT 1018 passenger truck wheels

[nkalanaga]

These are the old (1970s) 6-wheel trucks for heavyweight cars, originally sold with 33 inch plastic freight car wheels.  I have two pair to convert to metal, 36 inch, wheels.

One is of unknown age, but still says "Kadee", so definitely not new.  It took a little carving to get the center wheelset to fit, and the brake shoes had to be bent to clear the outer wheels, but ESM 0.540" axles fit fine, as I expected.

The other pair is on a kitbashed baggage care, built in 2002, and are clearly newer, saying MicroTrains.  They also had 33 inch wheels to start, but 36 inch fit fine, no carving or bending needed.  BUT - they also take 0.553" axles!  The 0.540" sets fall out.  So do MT plastic 36 inch wheels, so it isn't ESM.

Has anybody else found MT trucks that won't work with MT wheels?  There's nothing wrong with the trucks, they're not damaged in any way, and roll fine with the longer axles.

[bbussey]

David, I've abandoned the original Kadee/MTL passenger trucks years ago, if only because they are not designed to take 36" wheelsets.  I generally stick with Kato trucks now, as they can be utilized for RivaRossi, American Limited and other vintage passenger equipment.  The RivaRossi streamlined cars look much better riding on Kato trucks than they do on their original trucks or on MTL trucks.
 

[nkalanaga]

I agree for the 4-wheel trucks, the only problem being that Kato's are the wrong style for most of the GN/NP 1950s cars.  Cutting the brake shoes off helps, as these cars have disc brakes.  My remaining Rivarossi cars, mostly kitbashed baggage cars, all have Kato trucks.  The ConCor trucks are correct for the GN/NP cars, not surprising, as they were tooled for the original GN-prototype smoothside cars.

But there really isn't much choice in 6-wheel trucks, so I'm still using the KD/MT versions.  Putting 36 inch wheels in the old versions isn't that hard, and they fit the new 1018s fine. 

It's just that I've never found a MT truck that can't use MT wheels.  I don't know just what wheels the new version came with, as I put somebody's 36 inch metal wheels in when I first got them.  I think I used Bachmann's oversized freight wheels, which also fit the ConCor passenger trucks.  A lot of my ConCor trucks have those, after CC went to freight wheelsets.  All of my ConCor trucks now have new wheels, some IM, now unavailable, but mostly your new 0.553" sets.

[bbussey]

Kato does make a number of prototype four-wheel trucks, but they don't identify them  in a helpful way.  Since they usually tool new trucks for every named-consist they release, it's probably not that difficult to identify the trucks by researching the prototype equipment in those consists.  It's possible that Kato has tooled trucks that were utilized by GN back in the day.

[peteski]

Kato does make a number of prototype four-wheel trucks, but they don't identify them  in a helpful way.  Since they usually tool new trucks for every named-consist they release, it's probably not that difficult to identify the trucks by researching the prototype equipment in those consists.  It's possible that Kato has tooled trucks that were utilized by GN back in the day.

Mark has a pretty good truck reference page. 
http://spookshow.net/trucks/trucks.php

[nkalanaga]

I looked through their passenger car parts section last fall, and didn't see anything.  Of course, they may HAVE them, but don't sell them separately.

For now, I have enough old CC trucks, salvaged from retired cars, to fill my needs.  Put ESM wheels in them and they roll as good as any newer ones.

[Sokramiketes]

David, I've abandoned the original Kadee/MTL passenger trucks years ago, if only because they are not designed to take 36" wheelsets.  I generally stick with Kato trucks now, as they can be utilized for RivaRossi, American Limited and other vintage passenger equipment.  The RivaRossi streamlined cars look much better riding on Kato trucks than they do on their original trucks or on MTL trucks.

I go back and forth on this.  Operationally, the Kato trucks are great.  But, I think they are wide and end up looking "big" on older equipment that is slightly undersized. 

I keep trying them on CCS equipment too, and end up dropping back to lesser trucks. 

[bbussey]

I'm going to try the Kato Broadway trucks on the CSS Pennsy cars, haven't done that yet.  They look great under the RivaRossi Pennsy roomette.

[Sokramiketes]

I'm going to try the Kato Broadway trucks on the CSS Pennsy cars, haven't done that yet.  They look great under the RivaRossi Pennsy roomette.

The truck openings on the skirted CCS cars are a little tight.  Then there's the bolster situation.  Looking forward to seeing what you come up with. 

[bbussey]

I have to modify the skirts anyway to better resemble the PRR configuration.

[nkalanaga]

I have one of those Rivarossi Pennsy Roomettes, with the Kato trucks, and they do make a big improvement.  If someone would make a molded, or laser-cut, window insert, this would be a good looking car, even by today's standards.