Metal Wheel Options

[bbussey]

Looks like there’s been a run lately.

MBK has a healthy supply of 36” wheels. Looks like all the major outlets are out of 33” wheels. We have a small quantity on hand, but it’s not enough to fill store orders and they are at full MSRP through us. We will have restock for the shops at end of the year.

[PJPickard]

Thanks I'm looking for 33's.

[Ike the BN Freak]

Where is the preferred place to order the ESM ones? All I find is "out of stock"

I've bought mine at N Scale Supply, they offer "bulk" packs

[PJPickard]

Thanks Ike...all show backordered now!
Happy Thanksgiving!!

[nkalanaga]

Ike:  That's also where I get mine.  Great service, and they're very good about answering emails.

I hesitate to name them in most posts because I don't want to sound like an ad agency!

[Bill H]

Ike:  That's also where I get mine.  Great service, and they're very good about answering emails.
I hesitate to name them in most posts because I don't want to sound like an ad agency!

Completely agree. I have bought many ESM 90 packs from Scott and have always been impressed with their service, going back more than twenty years. Both N Scale Supply and the ESM wheelsets are tops IMHO.
Kind regards,
Bill

[CRR Chase]

with this talk of wheels, is there a cheat sheet for axle length by manufacturer? 

[Kentuckian]

Streamlined Backshop has a list: http://www.sbs4dcc.com/tutorialstipstricks/nscalewheelstrucksandcouplers.html

[CRR Chase]

Streamlined Backshop has a list: http://www.sbs4dcc.com/tutorialstipstricks/nscalewheelstrucksandcouplers.html

Thank you

[robert3985]

Streamlined Backshop has a list: http://www.sbs4dcc.com/tutorialstipstricks/nscalewheelstrucksandcouplers.html

Okay, time for a little rant.

I noticed that Streamlined Backshop's advice about low profile N-scale flanges is perpetuating the falsehood that they're a necessity for Code 55 rail.  Here's the quote "Low Profile - a.k.a. "Fine Scale".  This type of wheel has become very popular in the mid-00's as N Scale modelers seek more fidelity and adhearance to scale standards.  It also became a necessity with the introduction of Code 55 rail.  They look great but require near-perfectly laid rail and meticulous grooming of rail joints, ballast and switches."

I have been laying Rail Craft and Micro Engineering Code 55 track since the mid-80's and pizza cutters run just fine on it. Code 55 rail was introduced to N-scale decades before "the mid-00's".

And, I do not do "meticulous grooming of rail joints, ballast and switches"...I just install 'em properly and run 'em without any problems with a variety of flange sizes.  I changed to low-profile wheelsets when the only place you could buy them was NorthWest Short Line, but were so expensive I built a machining fixture and turned my own from the old Kadee N-scale 3 piece wheelsets.

Anyway, this is a sore spot with me...not here at TRW since most of us know that Atlas55 is the only Code 55 N-scale track product that has problems with pizza cutters, but on FB...EVERYBODY thinks all "Code 55" N-scale track products won't run pizza cutters, as does the person who wrote about Low-Profile N-scale flanges at Streamlined Backshop evidently.

I'm done. 

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[CRR Chase]

Okay, time for a little rant.

I noticed that Streamlined Backshop's advice about low profile N-scale flanges is perpetuating the falsehood that they're a necessity for Code 55 rail.  Here's the quote "Low Profile - a.k.a. "Fine Scale".  This type of wheel has become very popular in the mid-00's as N Scale modelers seek more fidelity and adhearance to scale standards.  It also became a necessity with the introduction of Code 55 rail.  They look great but require near-perfectly laid rail and meticulous grooming of rail joints, ballast and switches."

I have been laying Rail Craft and Micro Engineering Code 55 track since the mid-80's and pizza cutters run just fine on it. Code 55 rail was introduced to N-scale decades before "the mid-00's".

And, I do not do "meticulous grooming of rail joints, ballast and switches"...I just install 'em properly and run 'em without any problems with a variety of flange sizes.  I changed to low-profile wheelsets when the only place you could buy them was NorthWest Short Line, but were so expensive I built a machining fixture and turned my own from the old Kadee N-scale 3 piece wheelsets.

Anyway, this is a sore spot with me...not here at TRW since most of us know that Atlas55 is the only Code 55 N-scale track product that has problems with pizza cutters, but on FB...EVERYBODY thinks all "Code 55" N-scale track products won't run pizza cutters, as does the person who wrote about Low-Profile N-scale flanges at Streamlined Backshop evidently.

I'm done. 

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

is the ME higher i suppose than Atlas, when it comes to code 55?
I run Atlas 55 and i have to change wheels or I get the clicking of the wheels hitting the spikes.

[Jbub]

is the ME higher i suppose than Atlas, when it comes to code 55?
I run Atlas 55 and i have to change wheels or I get the clicking of the wheels hitting the spikes.

It's the spikes that are the issue with Atlas c55, they are massively oversized

[nickelplate759]

I'll point out that many, but not all, pizza-cutter wheels are also narrow in gauge, which causes them to not work on any correctly gauged turnout.

One notable exceptions is Kadee/Micro-Trains

[peteski]

I'll point out that many, but not all, pizza-cutter wheels are also narrow in gauge, which causes them to not work on any correctly gauged turnout.

One notable exceptions is Kadee/Micro-Trains

Yes, because they were molded as a single piece with the axle - no chances of the wheels moving on the axles to get out of gauge. I stated "were" because it appears MTL will now be using machined metal wheels in their offerings.

[nickelplate759]

Actually, Kadee/MT has used a few different designs:

1. cast metal wheel on plastic axle (both early Kadee and some recent Micro-Trains)
2. plastic wheel on metal axle (e.g. ribbed-back Kadee wheelsets)
3. one piece plastic casting (several iterations of Micro-Trains with at least 3 different flange depths).