Metal Wheel Options

[peteski]

The cast wheels have plastic axles. Correct?

Yes, chemically colored white metal wheels skewered onto a plastic axle.  This harks back to Kadee Micro-Trains original wheelsets.

[PJPickard]

It seems the Microtrains wheels are available separate.
https://www.micro-trains.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=179&product_id=2690

Also I've noticed that whenever this subject comes up NWSL is rarely mentioned. I have a few from them and they seem to be the most scale appearing with very thin wheels. However they are crazy expensive.

[nickelplate759]

The cast wheels have plastic axles. Correct?

Correct

[oakcreekco]

That's what I was thinking, as the wheels on the website show a plastic axle like the HO Kadee.

The machined metal wheels with metal axles aren't shown as available at all.

That said, the last TTX 60' box car run has the metal wheels and axles. IMO, they look very nice and have great running quality.

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[Bill H]

The cast wheels have plastic axles. Correct?

Plastic axles turn me off from a detection standpoint. Much easier to position a resistor on a metal axle as one of the conductors from the non-insulated wheel rather than have conductive paint the length of the axle. Of course it can be done, but can be an issue.

[mplsjct]

The latest Intermountain wheels have a modified face, and as far as I can tell, they no longer offer metal wheels with that unusual thick face profile (which I would describe as similar to early Atlas N Scale metal wheels), I mention this because a lot of Railwire members lament the unavailability of metal wheels to fit Atlas axels, I have purchased several sets of Intermountain wheels for this purpose.

As far as I can tell, Intermountain offers two axel lengths, their standard size, which fits Atlas rolling stock, and another for MicroTrains axels.

Intermountain and Athearn are the two metal wheel sets I see available most frequently, and I use both.

[BCR 570]

The first metal wheels I tried were the NWSL ones which looked and ran well, but with no bulk packaging the price was not sustainable.  I have since used several different brands of metal wheels, starting with BLMA and Fox Valley which sadly are no longer available.  These wheels performed well and were the best in terms of appearance.

I have used wheels from ESM, Intermountain and Rapido.  These performed well but some of these have a heavier rim which I didnt particularly like.  As mentioned, some of these were not available in the longer axle length, and the Rapido wheels were not always in gauge.

I recently tried 36" wheels from Athearn and they are very good.  They are in gauge, look like the FVM wheels and roll beautifully.

I have just obtained some of the new wheels from Intermountain which also look very good, but I have yet to try them out in operation.  They have bulk packs in 33" and 36" for both axle lengths which is good.

I havent seen the new all metal MTL ones yet but those would be worth checking out.

I am looking for the best wheels to use in a load for a work car.


Tim

[CNR5529]

I am looking for the best wheels to use in a load for a work car.

Might I suggest you print them out for detailed loads... you will be able to achieve nicer wheel plate shapes and realistic axles this way. Thats what I plan on doing for my MOW needs.

[SD452XR]

Tangent also sells metal wheels. I've used these and have been very pleased. ESM are also great.

[bbussey]

Bryan:  Then will probably be in the stores  around the end of January?  I'll be ordering some for my old ConCor passenger trucks.  Unlike their freight cars, the passenger cars take Atlas wheels just fine, so yours should fit just as well.

I’m hoping early January. There still are online shops that have stock on the .540” axles I believe. We currently have only one open back-order for a dealer and that was just submitted toward the end of this past week.

[nkalanaga]

Right now I don't need any of the 0.540, so will wait until the longer ones are available, then order a few of both.

As far as I know "my online dealer" has the 0.540 in stock if I needed them.

[bbussey]

Our two biggest wheels dealers (one of which I believe is your preferred dealer) both placed large orders in October, which cleaned us out but should sustain them until we are able to replenish.

The wheels would have arrived last week along with the HO boxcars, but the shipment was pushed back to correct the roofwalks.

[thumpernickle]

Thank you all for a great discussion. It looks like ESM is a known high quality product and the new turned MTL could be good. I guess I will go for some ESM and see how I like them. Thanks again.

[MetroRedLine]

Agree completely! Fantastic wheels!

I third the motion for ESM. I used to swear by Fox Valley wheelsets, but I doubt we'll ever see them again in this lifetime. As good as they looked, once in a while a batch would have production defects; I had to ask for replacement wheels a couple times back in the day when I discovered there was a little nick in the flange. Also, I'd find a 36" wheel in a 33" bag once in a while. I haven't seen any problems with ESM wheelsets. And the fact that they're going to be coming out with .553" axle width wheels in the near future all but renders FVM obsolete.

[PJPickard]

Where is the preferred place to order the ESM ones? All I find is "out of stock"