Trucks and wheel sets

[6axlepwr]

Not so much wheel sets, because I already know I will standardize on the ESM metal wheels. I received my first packages of them and I really do like them. I do have one pack of Tangent metal wheels that he accidentally sent me and told me to just keep. So far I cannot find any truck that they will fit in. I guess they are proprietary to Tangent trucks only.

So standardizing on ESM wheels. Now for the truck frames. unlike HO where you have the choice of about any truck frame ever made. In N-Scale I am finding this task a little different. I will always be searching for the different styles, but so far this is what I have standardized on.

- 50 Ton Solid Bearing Truck (MT 1001) Bettendorf, but looks more like a Barber Lateral Motion truck.
- 50 Ton National B-1 (MT 1195) CPT&C riveted side boxcars and 55 ton coal hoppers rode on these trucks.
- 70 Ton Solid Bearing Truck (Atlas 9045)
- 70 Ton Roller Bearing Truck (ESM 921000 or Atlas 9025 if ESM is out of stock)
- 100 Ton Roller Bearing Truck (MT 1139)

I am trying to find out what the MT 1036 truck is. I do not think it is a 50 ton truck or a 100 ton truck. It has the wheel base of a 70 ton truck, but a spring pack of a 100 ton truck. ????????

Looking at the older Atlas truck frames I find them to look more like a 70 ton solid bearing truck except they do not have the wheel base. Could be used as a stand in until someone makes a 70 ton solid bearing truck with the correct wheel base.

Brian

[nickelplate759]

You might find @spookshow 's N-scale truck encyclopedia of some use:  http://www.spookshow.net/trucks/trucks.php

He identifies the MT 1036 as a Barber S-2 70 Ton truck.

Atlas/BLMA offers a very nice 70-ton solid bearing truck.

[6axlepwr]

George, that is great to know. Thank you very much for the information. I will check out the Atlas truck and see if I can get me some. I have a 70 ton coal hopper fleet that is going to be needing them.

Brian

[tehachapifan]

I've used the MT 1036 truck (and it's couplered variants) for years as a 100T truck because of the 3 visible springs. I had always assumed that's what it was intended to represent, even if it had 33" wheels. However, this is the first time hearing about wheelbases being different between a 70T and 100T truck. MT's 100T truck is a very recent addition, right? Isn't it also the first MT truck to not have an offset bolster?

[thomasjmdavis]

The Atlas/BMLA 9045 is the 70 ton, solid bearing version of the ASF A-3 (per the packaging).  Very nice trucks and due to a lower design, helps with a lot of ride height problems.

I was unaware that different weight classes of trucks necessarily had different wheelbases- at least between 50 and 70 ton trucks.  Would some of you in the know share the specifics on that?  Would make truck identification easier for yours truly.

I find the common use of "Bettendorf" for virtually any 50 ton, solid bearing truck made to conform to ARA or AAR specs (as so many model importers and manufacturers do) very confusing.  Bettendorf made many different designs over those decades, and many manufacturers made similar trucks. 

On the "spring" question....there again, things are confusing.  On whether something shows 2 of 3 springs is sometimes a designer's eye.  They may select only springs level to the exterior of the truck frame, or may include springs that are set back-

[6axlepwr]

I do not know a lot about the trucks other than they are different. Up until about a year or two ago, I was oblivious to what the different trucks were. It wasn't until I started modeling freight cars in HO that I took notice. in HO, you have about every truck design under the sun to choose from. Not everything, but pretty darn close.

This manufacturer made a LOT of the solid bearing trucks and I have used them extensively. A good page to see the different designs. Tahoe Model Works http://resincarworks.com/tahoe.htm. He did not make the national B-1 though. Kadee made that one. and I find out today that MT makes it in N-Scale. Tahoe also made the 70 ton solid bearing truck and Kato make the 70 ton roller bearing truck. Line up the journal boxes to a 50 ton truck and you will see the wheel base is longer on the 70 ton. The arch is a little flatter too. I know that is HO stuff, but good information to glean off of and see the different truck designs.

I use my HO stuff to help me setup my N-Scale cars too. HO is pretty good at getting the heights right so I used a 1937 AAR boxcar to measure the height from the rail head to the bottom of the sill and then transferred those numbers to N-Scale and the car stance is much improved. So before I setup my couplers now, I get the sill height done. At least on my 40' boxcars.

Brian

[bbussey]

The ESM truck is a 70-ton ASF Ride Control truck.  It has been released in weathered black, freight car red (primarily for Southern rolling stock) and silver (primarily for Union Pacific rolling stock).  Eventually we will release it in Cement Gray when we have need for it on a rolling stock run.  All three colors remain available in ample supply and, as with the wheels, are regular stock items.

Micro-Trains #1036 (old number) is a Barber S-2-C 70-ton roller bearing truck.

The BLMA friction-bearing truck is an ASF A-3 70-ton.  The BLMA 70-ton roller bearing is the same as ESM, ASF Ride Control.  BLMA made a 100-ton ASF Ride Control truck as well.  All three are now available via Atlas.

The friction-bearing truck used on the Atlas PS-1 (new tooling) is a Barber S-2A 50-ton.  Ironically, the majority of PS-1 40' boxcars rode on ASF A-3 70-ton trucks and some on ASF Ride Control trucks.  So swap in BLMA trucks on your Atlas models and use the Barber 50-ton trucks on models that need better trucks and lower ride height, such as the Micro-Scale 3-dome tank.

The best caboose trucks available are the Fox Valley 50-ton leafspring friction-bearing trucks.  They were tooled for the B&O Wagontop but are available separately.  The Atlas leafsprings look good but are too wide.  The FVM caboose truck has the lowered bolster introduced with the BLMA trucks.  Micro-Trains does not make a friction-bearing caboose truck, so the FVM truck is good for all MTL wood cabooses as well.

[bigdawgks]

The BLMA friction-bearing truck is an ASF A-3 70-ton.  The BLMA 70-ton roller bearing is the same as ESM, ASF Ride Control.  BLMA made a 100-ton ASF Ride Control truck as well.  All three are now available via Atlas.

What exactly is the difference between A-3 and Ride Control? The spookshow encyclopedia refers to both friction and roller bearing versions as "ASF A-3 Ride Control." Is this in error? I presumed that the A-3 was just a member of the Ride Control family of designs and was built with both bearing types. But honestly I never saw much similarity in the physical appearance of the friction bearing vs roller bearing models on spook's site.

[bbussey]

They are the same product family.  Other than the fiction bearing journal boxes and the roller bearings, the truck frame is exactly the same.

[nkalanaga]

Tom:  As far as I know 50-ton and 70-ton trucks have the same wheelbase, usually 5' 6", with the main visible difference being springs.  Since different trucks can have different spring arrangements, even for the same capacity, I consider these two interchangeable.  I model 1974, so the early trucks, such as archbars, aren't a factor for me.

Most 100-ton trucks, at least in the 70s, seemed to be longer, around 5' 10". 

Curiously, the old MDC/Roundhouse roller-bearing trucks had a 5' 10" wheelbase, and looked too long for 70-ton trucks.  Put 36 inch wheels in them, and shave the raised ring off the top of the bolster, and they make fine 100-ton trucks.  I've sometimes wondered if MDC had that in mind when they designed them.

[6axlepwr]

NO, 50 ton and 70 ton trucks do not have the same wheel base.

Brian

[wazzou]

I periodically refer to this site as a resource.

http://resincarworks.com/tahoe.htm

[thomasjmdavis]

OK, so I found the answer to my own question, in my C&EI diagram book....

All the various 50-ton trucks shown in that book show a center-center of 5'6"
The majority of the 70 ton trucks show a center-center of 5'8"
The 100 ton trucks show a center-center of 5'10"

Let's keep in mind that 2" in N scale is 0.0125" in our world.

Of course, in addition, 100 trucks with 36" wheels will add 3" for the larger diameter.  On the C&EI, at least, all 70 ton trucks I checked had 33" wheels.

Thanks to the 2 posters for the Tahoe truck links.  Nice to have all of those in one place, will let me compare the various N scale "Bettendorf" trucks to those photos.

[bigdawgks]

Hmm while a difference between a scale 5'6" and 5'8" might not be noticable, a scale 4" difference between 100 ton and 50 ton may be. Then you have to make sure the 70 ton wheelbase _isn't_ perceptively different from either the 50 or 100, as it would be a scale 2" difference to both.

[nkalanaga]

Tom:  Interesting, and the C&EI books should be correct.  I was going by what I heard from railroaders on the BN in the 1970s, none of whom were in the mechanical department.  Since there were still a lot of 50-ton cars around, I just took their word for it.

Just out of curiosity, if "The majority of the 70 ton trucks" were 5'8", what were the rest of them?