Rapido Flexi-Flo hoppers are in

[samusi01]

Bryan,

A while back you mentioned 38" wheelsets -

Three definitely are coming – the 36" and 38" diameter .540" length wheelsets (relatively soon), and a truck style that will be new to N (in 2020).

Are these still on the horizon or shelved?

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Got my set of PD3500s today.  There are other details missing that will have to be added.  And the wheel diameter is only a scale 35½", not 38", which is EXTREMELY disappointing.  The 36" diameter is correct for the 25 early cars but not the remaining 200 late cars.  .557" axle length. 

I think Kato makes 38" wheels, maybe for one of their intermodal well cars.  Hopefully they are adaptable.  NWSL also might make something that fits.

Bryan, do you plan on making an etched upgrade kit for these? I would love to get a few if you make them available.

The wheels are a bit weird. They are insulated at both ends like the first old Atlas low profile metal wheels. I wonder if new treads could be made on a lathe to fit the plastic hubs.

[bbussey]

Bryan,

A while back you mentioned 38" wheelsets -

Are these still on the horizon or shelved?

Still thinking about it. They were tentative based on how the Rapido wheels turned out. I figured the flanges would be larger than preferred, but I never expected the wheel diameter to be incorrect. Maybe a short run for now if we can afford to squeeze it in financially. It would be a one-and-done run probably because of the non-standard axle length and because most modelers will run the cars as is. I don’t see Rapido reissuing these models anytime soon. I still want to check if the 36”/.553” ESM wheel fits the truck, which would be correct for the early style model.

I have a pair of Kato Maxi IV 38” wheels. Beautiful wheels, but the axle length is too long. And the axle diameters of the Rapido and Kato wheelsets don’t match, so no wheel-swapping on the axles is possible.

Also discovered the flanges on the PD3500 wheels are too deep for Code 40 rails. It just keeps getting better.

Bryan, do you plan on making an etched upgrade kit for these? I would love to get a few if you make them available.

The wheels are a bit weird. They are insulated at both ends like the first old Atlas low profile metal wheels. I wonder if new treads could be made on a lathe to fit the plastic hubs.

I’m probably going to etch the vertical hand rails. I’ll make them available to others who may be interested, or I’ll add it to the ESM parts product line.

Regarding wheelset alternatives – having new axles machined for Kato wheels is an option, but we know that the Kato 38” wheels are not in abundance if at all. And it still might be cost prohibitive to just make replacement axles here in the States. Same situation on machining new wheels for the Rapido axle. Another possibility – are the wheels on some of the newer Atlas modern cars 38”? Possibly, but the axles may be .540” and not .553”. It really is questionable if currently there is a viable alternative.

[lock4244]

Also discovered the flanges on the PD3500 wheels are too deep for Code 40 rails. It just keeps getting better.

Which is odd because the GP20 tank cars are C40 compliant. Not sure if those have a 33" or 36" wheel but they do run on C40 without driving spikes home.

It's almost as if they don't get N scale 

[samusi01]

Understood. I've been looking for 38" wheelsets, ideally in the .540" length, for a separate project. I had considered the Kato wheelsets but, as you say, sourcing them can be an issue.

[chessie system fan]

Kato trucks (with the wheels!) are now available again.

https://store.katousa.com/product/125-ton-truck-w-o-coupler-n-scale/

[turbowhiz]

I’d consider another approach here, and just adapt the Kato 125 ton truck. I took a casual look at this tonight and it looks doable.

Kato does sell the 125 truck/interconnect assembly for the well cars (p/n 800112). As well, the wheelbase of the 125 ton truck is longer than a 100 ton truck, so even if you have 38” wheelsets that fit, you’ll be putting them in 100 ton trucks and it will still be wrong.  From my casual looks of the flexi-flo prototype photos, the Kato truck seems to be a better match then larger wheels would be in the Rapido truck, which seems to be the exactly the same truck they’ve been using on a bunch of their recent stuff.

The well car interconnection part is a separate snap on assembly on top of the truck with a flat spring, which can be popped off leaving a viably adaptable truck (you will need to fill the spring slot and drill a centering hole of some sort. A 3d printed adapter would make this a snap I figure…).

I’m not aware of any other 125 ton trucks in N scale other than the Kato ones.

Andrew

[bbussey]

The 125-ton Kato trucks are not the correct prototype, but I suppose that's an option.  You'd have to drill and file the bolster, as it's designed as the articulated truck for the Maxi well cars.  Doable perhaps, but not a quick solution.

The wheelbase of the Kato 800112 truck and the Rapido PD3500 truck are the same.

Some good news this evening.  The Rapido trucks take the ESM .36"/.553" wheelsets, and the 36" is prototypical for the early style model.  The car actually rides better with them.  So the better choice of axle length in manufacturing 38" wheels would be .553", as it may allow for use in other models.



The undecorated models come partially assembled with the bulk of the parts under the blister.  They don't appear to be painted.  The exploded diagram is in the bottom of the box, so the trick will be unsnapping the roof (the seam is underneath the top belt rails) without breaking the snap-in tabs.  The etched roofwalks are pre-formed and pre-painted.  The undecs are rare to acquire, as Rapido basically produced them to the reservations with no overage.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I'll take 24 of those 38" wheels if you make them Bryan.

I would really like to upgrade these cars as much as possible.

[bbussey]

I've started a new thread in this forum.  Everyone interested in upgraded wheelsets should post there.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I'm not mad at em.

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