A week of wheels: FVM wheels in at Scaletrains

[jagged ben]

Okay, Ed, since you goaded me to do the math....
a 1k ohm resistor on your wheelset would only draw 12 mA, and a 10k (which I presume you are using, or even higher)
would only draw 1.2mA.  So carbon conductive goo would work fine.  And any additional resistance it imparts would be
negligable because the length of carbon track is so short.
Actually, there is a company, Creative Materials, that makes "resistive inks" in a variety of resistance value.
i.e. you can buy some that is "10,000 ohms per centimeter" for example.  If you used that, you don't need a resistor at all.
Just a stripe of ink and you've got your conductive wheelset.  But I cannot find anybody who sells it retail.

...

I swear that one day soon I will experiment with mixing graphite powder lubricant into cheap acrylic paint at different concentrations  and report the results.

[Cajonpassfan]

Back in stock. They show 20, well now 19 in stock 

I'm sorry, I must be dense, but who has them again?
Thanks Otto K.

[pmpexpress]

I'm sorry, I must be dense, but who has them again?
Thanks Otto K.

Iron Planet Hobbies, DCCconcepts N Scale Axle Bearing Reamer Sets.

[Cajonpassfan]

Thank you Neville, appreciated.
Back to the original topic: can someone please take a caliper to the new Scaletrains wheelsets and measure the thickness of the wheel at the rim. (My old FVM "narrow" wheels measure .060, and they are giving me all kinds of issues on my steep grades with long trains).
Thank you,
Otto K.

[jagged ben]

.0585, give or take .0005". 
For the 3602 and the 3302.

I don't find that steep grades or long trains affects the tracking of the narrow wheels.  But track gauge and turnout flangeways do.

[Cajonpassfan]

.0585, give or take .0005". 
For the 3602 and the 3302.

I don't find that steep grades or long trains affects the tracking of the narrow wheels.  But track gauge and turnout flangeways do.

Thanks @jagged ben . Just to make sure, these are the new sets just released by Scaletrains, right? I get .059 if I squeeze tight on the original FVM's.
Otto K.

[jagged ben]

Thanks @jagged ben . Just to make sure, these are the new sets just released by Scaletrains, right? I get .059 if I squeeze tight on the original FVM's.
Otto K.

Yes those are new from scale trains and are the ones that Scale Trains is calling 'Semi-Scale'.  There's also the wider ones, which FVM called 'wide' and Scale Trains is calling 'standard'.  If I'm not mistaken the narrower ones have a zero for the third digit of the part number and the wider ones have a 1.

They are really just the same as the original FVM, so far as I've seen to this point with QC on the better side.

[mu26aeh]

@DeltaBravo have you followed up or heard anything from IM ?  I grabbed a 12 pack off the rack the other day of the 33" MT wheels and they all measured out like you found. .5425

[DeltaBravo]

@DeltaBravo have you followed up or heard anything from IM ?  I grabbed a 12 pack off the rack the other day of the 33" MT wheels and they all measured out like you found. .5425

@mu26aeh I sent a follow up email and then nothing. I did go back through the bag of 100 and found a bunch that were close enough. But still I would have appreciated a more concrete answer. They are not cheap.

[jagged ben]

Upon further review...
A close inspection revealed differences between older FVM wheels and the new run from Scale Trains.

• It appears that on the older ones the axles are blackened, whereas on the new ones their not.  This is actually what caused me to take a closer look, as I remembered having to scrape away blackening on the axles when making resistor wheelsets on older ones.  (More on my technique to come in a new thread, hopefully soon.)
• The plastic insulator has a smaller diameter on the newer ones.
• The flat part of the rim is slightly larger on the newer ones, I think less to scale.
• The dish is shallower and less rounded on the newer ones.

In all photos the older ones are on the left.  Sorry these are best pics I can get (especially the last one).
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[jagged ben]

I only had the 3601 handy in the older run.  33" wheels might be different.

[Cajonpassfan]

Well, my 200 new 3301 and 3302's  by Scale Trains/FVM came in today's mail.
Little wheels, BIG box Free shipping, and candies, so I'm not complaining...

The one obvious difference is the axle size which explains the smaller (and nicer) plastic hub. My caliper says the new axles are metric 1.25 mm, shrinking to 1.0 mm through the wheel and hub (compared to 1.5/1.17mm on the originals).

The dish on the outside face is indeed shallower and if the rim is any wider, I can't see it without magnification. I think it's a nice profile.
The wheels thickness on the 3300's is actually thinner on my samples. My caliper shows .056/57, vs. .59/60 on the originals. I've yet to check the 36's....

The axles are not blackened, and even the wheels that are are not dark enough to use as is imo. Frankly, if I need to paint them anyway, I'd prefer shiny wheels and threads. This way I need to paint them, AND get the paint and blackening off the threads, a minor annoyance.

The next step will be to convert a whole train to these and test them out on my layout with properly weighed cars. While these new wheels look terrific, the narrower thread makes me just a bit nervous
Otto

[Cajonpassfan]

Well, I converted a 25 car test train of mixed manufacture to the new Scale Trains 3300's and took it up the Hill, a 175' long, 35" climb at a 2.2%  ruling grade, with a number of 18" curves. One derailment, due to a loose truck on a 50' IM automobile car I think. I'll put a 2-56 screw in one of the bolsters; that should do it I hope.

So far so good, but we've yet to encounter Barstow staging with its multitude of Code 70 Shinohara turnouts, and of course the return trip, partially down a 3% grade...

Fun stuff, I think...
Otto

[Cajonpassfan]

The "semi-scale" Scale Trains test train saga continues, with much success. I've managed to navigate the test train through my Shinohara equipped staging yard and headed back down hill, including the 3% grade. The  Code 70 Shinohara turnouts are well gauged and I encountered no issues, testing at slow (yard limits) speed.And on the down grade, not only the train performed well with no derailments, but even the dreaded slinky effect mostly disappeared. It seems the consistent rollabilty and lack of uneven friction smoothed out the descent. I need to do some more testing, but so far so good.

I did find a couple of track issues that need fixing, but other than that I'm impressed. And not a single "wobbler" so far...
To be continued, if anyone cares.
Otto

[oakcreekco]

The "semi-scale" Scale Trains test train saga continues, with much success. I've managed to navigate the test train through my Shinohara equipped staging yard and headed back down hill, including the 3% grade. The  Code 70 Shinohara turnouts are well gauged and I encountered no issues, testing at slow (yard limits) speed.And on the down grade, not only the train performed well with no derailments, but even the dreaded slinky effect mostly disappeared. It seems the consistent rollabilty and lack of uneven friction smoothed out the descent. I need to do some more testing, but so far so good.

I did find a couple of track issues that need fixing, but other than that I'm impressed. And not a single "wobbler" so far...
To be continued, if anyone cares.
Otto

Any layout testing of any product always interests me.

Thanks for sharing.