Bad Wheels on Recent Athearn LPG Tankcars

[lock4244]

I received a number of the recent release of the Athearn LPG tankcars and of the two I've pulled out of the box thus far, both had defective wheels. By defective I mean they are noisy, really noisy... sounded like little coffee grinders rolling along . A look under sufficient lighting revealed that the wheels were scored perpendicular to the flanges in several areas, almost like they have N scale flat spots. I've never seen that before on metal wheels.

Anyone else notice this on the recent run?

[ljudice]

Haven't taken mine out of the box yet, but I did notice that the wheelsets were dislodged from several
trucks.

Flatspots are prototypical though, perhaps it's a feature....   

[lock4244]

Yeah...

"NOW WITH ACCURATE FLATSPOTS ON WHEELS!!!"

Combine that with a new jewel box and you've got yourself the halcion days of N scale 

[lock4244]

Just checked the balance of my order... 14 cars, all with bad wheels. Will be emailing Athearn tomorrow.

[nkalanaga]

Not on LPG tankers, of which I don't have any, but the I've seen it on a few other cars.  The latest was the CB&Q 60 ft boxcar.  Took me several days to track down the noise, as I never thought of the wheel treads.

I wonder if the factory is using some type of chuck to hold the wheels during assembly, and either the jaws are damaged, or they're over-tightening it?

[peteski]

I wonder if the factory is using some type of chuck to hold the wheels during assembly, and either the jaws are damaged, or they're over-tightening it?

Are the flat spots in 3 or 4 evenly spaced locations?  Round objects are usually chucked in 3 or sometimes 4 jaw chicks.

[ljudice]

Just put mine on the track and YEP - it looks like the wheels are scored from being held in something.

Not good.....

[ljudice]

Posted calmly worded complaint on their Facebook page.

[Paradise275]

I've found that all Athern wheels are poorly make. If you take the Athern wheels out and replace them with Micro Train wheels the difference in how the car rolls is amazing. I don't change the truck, just the wheels. This allows you to pull more cars too.

Rick

[ljudice]

I've found that all Athern wheels are poorly make. If you take the Athern wheels out and replace them with Micro Train wheels the difference in how the car rolls is amazing. I don't change the truck, just the wheels. This allows you to pull more cars too.

Rick

I agree!  I think it makes sense to complain though! 

[lock4244]

I've found that all Athern wheels are poorly make. If you take the Athern wheels out and replace them with Micro Train wheels the difference in how the car rolls is amazing. I don't change the truck, just the wheels. This allows you to pull more cars too.

Rick

Except that the Athearn wheels are metal and MT's are plastic. I change my wheels to metal as a rule, but if the car comes with metal wheels I don't really want to pay to replace a defective part.

[Paradise275]

All my Athern wheels have been plastic.

Rick

[Glenn Poole]

After reading the above, decided I should check my 3 out.  First, they look just great and the detail is great.   I don't mind the truck mounted couplers.  Put them under my magnifier and yes, I could see small marks on the tread service of the wheels.  Seems to be one wheel per axle, not both.  Then, put the cars thru my test that I do for all new rolling stock.  Hook them up behind the engine (in this case, 4 Kato SD-70 MACs) followed by 2 hoppers, 2 85' TOFCs, and 21 double stacks (about 12' in length) and started up my 2 percent grade and around a 180 degree turn and then on up.  These cars operated flawlessly, never derailed, uncoupled, or string lined on the curves.  Did not notice that they made more noise than other cars with metal wheels.

In summary, these are some of the best cars I have acquired in recent years.  I see no reason to replace the wheels.  It seems to me that as manufacturers strive for more detail, they forget that some of us love to run our trains.  I have been dissatisfied with most of my recent acquisitions as they are not RTR.

I understand that some of you may not have had the same results.

[ljudice]

Totally agree on how nice these cars are - and the problem does not seem to contribute to an operational problem!

But I do think the wheels are flawed and frankly Athearn should fix the problem.

[nkalanaga]

Mine also run fine, and I haven't bothered to replace them.  They don't make excessive noise, they just sound "different" to smoother wheels.  But, yes, they are flawed, and I'd think Athearn would want to know, just in case their supplier isn't doing things the way they should.  There may be other, more serious, issues in the future, if quality isn't addressed today.