Concor passenger wheels

[jjb62556]

I'm looking to replace just the wheels in my older Concor passenger cars....any ideas of what brand will work?

[carlso]

Are you talking about replacing with metal or delrin wheel sets?

I think most manufacturers of wheel sets include a size for most any truck assembly and it does sound like you understand that there are difference axle lengths running around out there. So much for NMRA setting standards.

Carl

[jjb62556]

Looking for a good metal set...and you are right, I do know about the axle sizes, Thanks for any help, Jim in Minnesota

[jjb62556]

P.S. What size am I looking for 33 or 36" wheels?

[nickelplate759]

Well, the ConCor passenger car wheels are 33", but the prototype would have had 36".  On the various streamline cars, you can substitute 36" no problem.  On the heavyweights you cannot, as the brake shoes get in the way.

[nkalanaga]

The earliest ConCor passenger cars, the smoothside cars from the late 60s and early 70s, had 36 inch wheels, and very nice ones at that.  When they quit having Sekisui/Kato make the cars, CC started using standard freight wheels.  They also modified the trucks so that the cars would ride at the same height with the smaller wheels, so if you have those trucks, changing the wheels will make the car sit about 0.01 inch higher.

[nickelplate759]

I have a mix of old and new ConCor smoothsides, and never noticed that the wheel sizes changed (just the wheel color, from silver to a sort-of-bronze), much less the truck design!  Looking at them, I can see you are quite right!  Good to know.

George

[Doug G.]

Of course, knowing Con-Cor, there are all kinds of variations. Mine all have 36" wheels but some are bronze and most, silver. Some trucks are held on by the typical pin but different styles, and others kind of clip into the car bottom.

It wouldn't surprise me if there are 10 different axle lengths used.

I still love Con-Cor, though.

Doug

[jjb62556]

Yea, I know...... I think I'll wait and replace them with Microtrains streamline trucks...Less bother. Jim

[nkalanaga]

Doug:  The original(?) had the silver 36 inch wheels and clipped into the floor casting, with a removable split pin.  I bought my first one the last week of 1969.  In my opinion CC passenger trucks have been going downhill ever since.

Anyone remember the MT (KD?) freight trucks with the clip mounting?  Fortunately they didn't last long, as the only practical way to lower the cars, or to change couplers, is to change the floor.  As far as I know the only such trucks made were "Bettendorf", and they were only used  on 50 ft boxcars.  At least that's the only place I ever saw them  And, no, they were NOT interchangeable with the CC split-pin design.

[Doug G.]

Yes, one of mine has the clip/split pin arrangement and others have the bit more conventional truck with a hole but sill a split pin. Others have the split pin built into the truck without the removable pin. They all have pretty decent rolling qualities.

Paint quality varied too. Some of mine have absolutely beautiful paint jobs and others, not so much with thick paint and pieces of dirt fuzz, or whatever embedded into the paint.

I do remember the short-lived MT clip trucks too although I don't think I have any. I do have some of the earliest releases with the original numbers before they changed the numbering sequence.

Doug

[nkalanaga]

Yes, even the newest CC passenger trucks worked well enough, it was mostly the appearance that deteriorated over the years.  Some of the new wheels had quality issues, and wobbled a lot, but they still stayed on the track and rolled reasonably well.