33" vs 36" wheels

[mushroom2]

Although I'm dealing with HO, I guess this would apply to all scales.

How do you tell what freight car should get 33" wheels, and which ones get 36"?
Was there a particular year that they transitioned to 36"?

[Roger Hensley]

It has to do with the weight capacity of the cars.
In general, freight cars use 33" wheels with exceptions such as:
cars over 70 ton capacity generally use 36"; cars over 125 ton use 38" or in
the case of container hauling cars a mixture of 36" and 38".
Some container cars use 28".

[abcraghead]

Hmm... not sure about the weight thing as I am under the impression that most boxcars built in the mid 70's onwards -- e.g. a Railbox -- are 100 ton cars, and they all sport 33" wheels...

My rule of thumb is as follows:

===33" wheels===
50' boxcars, standard height
2-Bay hoppers, covered or open
50' flatcars and gondolas
Centerbeam Flatcars & Bulkhead Flatcars
All tank cars
All cabooses, m-o-w, etc....

===36" wheels===
All 60' boxcars
3 and 4 bay covered hoppers of any era
Modern open hoppers
50' Hi-Cube boxcars

Note: it's really worth putting 36" wheels in these cars. They run noticeably better than with 33" wheels. It *can* get annoying having to stock both sizes I admit. But especially on modern hi-cube boxcars and on covered hoppers, the wheels make a visual impact too.

[HaggisKennedy]

One way to do it is to look at the LT WT and Load Limit weights on the sides of the cars. Add them together, and if it comes out to 220K, then it gets 33" wheels. 263K and up get 36" wheels.

Of course, there are exceptions. Autoracks get 28" wheels, the center trucks on articulated well cars are probably 36" or 38" depending....

Kennedy