Smudge617
Well-Known Member
I keep a stock of various-size wheelsets for that reason.
Mail Call! Railway Post Office, commonly abbreviated as RPO has rolled in!
- Thread starter Alcomotive
- Start date
migalyto
Well-Known Member
NorthBrit
Well-Known Member
hunslet040
Well-Known Member
I had a set of Marklin PFE ( Pacific Fruit Express ) cars which I converted to 2-rail by changing the wheel sets.
I found that the usual U.S. wheel set axles were wider than the Marklin and therefore stressed the truck side frames.
I got replacements from a company in Germany who unfortunately no longer advertise on Ebay but Trix wheelsets will fit but are expensive !
If you check your stock of wheel sets for a measurement of 24.5 mm they should fit as the U.S wheel sets I have all measure 26 mm over the pinpoint axles.
The couplers should be no problem as mentioned above as they should be in NEM sockets and can be replaced by Kadee.
Smudge617
Well-Known Member
WOW! I never knew that, great thanks, I'll check my stock and see what I have, but all mine are from the US so....... just a thought tho' wouldn't it be simpler (and cheaper) to change the trucks, I'm assuming they're a screw fit ?
KriegslokBR52
Well-Known Member
It might actually be easier to do the trucks. Kadee has several styles to choose from to match your prefferences. Long ago when i was still a teenager and didn't understand about Märklins AC system being different, i bought one of their european two axle gondolas. It took me a while to find insulated wheelsets to match.
Smudge617
Well-Known Member
I'm not worried about which trucks I use as long as the couplers match up, so I'll use what works.
hunslet040
Well-Known Member
While on the subject of axles, wheels and trucks I picked these wheels up recently for a 5" gauge wagon I am building.
A little larger than usually shown on here but still a model.
I have machined the axles to length but they need to be turned down to fit the wheels and bearings.
It is to be a model of a World war 1 narrow gauge wagon used in the trenches for shell carrying etc. so appropriate for today as Armistice Day !
The final wagon is to be used as a driving truck for live steam operations.
I built the truck frames some time ago but have only just got round to getting the wheels - now to find time to finish it !
A little larger than usually shown on here but still a model.
I have machined the axles to length but they need to be turned down to fit the wheels and bearings.
It is to be a model of a World war 1 narrow gauge wagon used in the trenches for shell carrying etc. so appropriate for today as Armistice Day !
The final wagon is to be used as a driving truck for live steam operations.
I built the truck frames some time ago but have only just got round to getting the wheels - now to find time to finish it !
Smudge617
Well-Known Member
That's going to be amazing, please keep us up to date with this build of yours, got a feeling it's going to be brilliant.
westtexjohn
Well-Known Member
Did I miss something here? I see a boxcar and a gondola car...........no reefer.
Smudge617
Well-Known Member
I don't need any more boxcars either lol.
Yesterday my son and I went to a train show in Allentown Pa. We were able to find some good buys.
We got a Penn Line GG1. The paint is rough but it runs. Eventually I will restore it. I have been looking for one in my price point for some time. I am very excited to start on this. But I have to finish my current projects.
The cars below are all metal/ die cast. They need wheels and couplers replaced.
We even got a boat!
And a Lionel radioactive waste flat cat
Most of the cars need the plastic wheels changed to metal and couplers changed to Kadees.
I picked out the GG1 and the die cast cars. My 5 year old picked out the rest. He had a blast. It was a great day.
thanks
Pat
We got a Penn Line GG1. The paint is rough but it runs. Eventually I will restore it. I have been looking for one in my price point for some time. I am very excited to start on this. But I have to finish my current projects.
The cars below are all metal/ die cast. They need wheels and couplers replaced.
We even got a boat!
And a Lionel radioactive waste flat cat
Most of the cars need the plastic wheels changed to metal and couplers changed to Kadees.
I picked out the GG1 and the die cast cars. My 5 year old picked out the rest. He had a blast. It was a great day.
thanks
Pat
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TLOC
Well-Known Member
I stopped at the LHS this morning to buy some more Kadee shelf couplers and came home with more then that.
2 autoracks that I believe are the Walthers brand for $12.00 each and a flat that I will be using for a client to create a “hospital car”. It was $10 and an unknown manufacturer but I will investigate that. I rarely looked at the Estate sales at the LHS but happy I did. Yes I got the couplers
2 autoracks that I believe are the Walthers brand for $12.00 each and a flat that I will be using for a client to create a “hospital car”. It was $10 and an unknown manufacturer but I will investigate that. I rarely looked at the Estate sales at the LHS but happy I did. Yes I got the couplers
migalyto
Well-Known Member
Those auto-racks were a steal!
Iron Horseman
Well-Known Member
Please keep us posted on the Penn Line project. I would love to see you succeed at it. A Penn Line kit is one of the only kits I've "given up on" because nothing seemed to fit right. Wasn't a GG1 but scared me away from the brand.
BigGRacing
Aka. Gary Russell
Beautiful cars and engines from you more experienced enthusiasts. I have been busy finishing the walls in my train room lately so only a little bit of railroading before that. I Did have a friend from my boat modellers club though that gave me a couple bins of old buildings, cars and another steam engine! All free, I will donate the track and anything I don’t use to our local club or another member who might want it. Hopefully there will be a younger person that might want the free track.
KriegslokBR52
Well-Known Member
That steam engine looks like old production Rivarossi "Hudson", is it lettered New York Central?
KriegslokBR52
Well-Known Member
The beauty about Penn Line is that they are made out of metal. If you put some effort and patience in it, they will pull plaster off the wall. I'm just about finished on Penn Line decapod which i rebuilt into a mikado. Strong motor and runs like a swiss watch:
trailrider
Well-Known Member
I have gone the other way, stretching Mantua Mikados into 2-10-2's and 2-10-4's. Working on another Burlington M4. If I can get good enough photos, I may try submitting the process to Model Railroader. The basic kitbash is reasonably easy. But I find it more difficult to get some of the details, like Elesco feedwater heaters, so I am going to install a Worthington BL, which the Burlington Route did use on some of their M4's. Also, the cost of can motors and DCC decoders with sound has gone up. We'll see what happens...
Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
KriegslokBR52
Well-Known Member
Burlington M4-one of the most brutally handsome 2-10-4s. I have gone on your modeling page, cool conversions. I'm a sucker for anything 10 coupled, and the mikado was actually a result for me needing extra wheelset for upcoming decapod project.
