want to replace plastic wheels on bachmann cars, but with which...


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foxofinfinety

Member
a short while ago I got a bachmann Overland Limited set to extend the layout a bit, or, as far as the US models go.
but, this set does have plastic wheels under all cars, I prefer metal wheels.


so, I want to replace them all, but, I don't know what size to get.
I've seen 28", 33" and 36" metal wheels.
problem is, I've got no idea what the cars have now.

and, I also want to replace some wheels on the locomotive.
mainly the first two axes, and the last two (it's a 4-8-4) the reason is that I got a warning form a friend on MSN that as the origional wheels are made of two metal pieces with plastic in between they break fairly fast.
 
I used proto wheels for my replacements and am happy with them.
The most common size for rolling stock is 33 inch. Anything 100 ton or over uses the 36 inch.
 
33" works for most things that you'd be working with. Buy a bulk pack of 100 wheelsets from Intermountain for around $60. I'd stay away from Life Like Proto2000 and Kadee wheelsets with plastic axles.
 
the full metal wheels are the best. they run true and rarely give issues. the P2K wheels look nice but they still have plastic axels, that adds a little more drag and if the plastic is bent they will wobble. they are better than fully plastic but for the little extra full metal axels are the best way to go.

just my.02
 
I'll second Intermountain wheelsets. I've recently replaced most of the plastic wheels on my rolling stock with them. They are very smooth running all metal wheels. Just don't get the semi-scale wheelsets as they are smaller than standard HO scale.

For most freight cars 33" is what you'll want and for passenger cars 36" is usually what you'll want. Like hamltnblue pointed out some of the newer 100 ton and heavier cars use 36".

Bulk packs of 100 of the 33" wheelsets are actually on sale in this month at Walthers.
 
I've had great luck wit Jay-Bee wheelsets. I run all my cars lighter than USRA standard and use the wheelsets (with metal axles and pre blackened) they are the primary weight for my hopper fleet.
 
Guys, you're all talking about freight car or passenger car wheelsets. He needs lead truck wheelsets for a steamer. Some of these got pretty big in diameter, say 42". Measure the tread diameter. You may indeed be able to use freight car wheelsets, but if they aren't 33 or 36" diameter, you can get pilot truck wheelsets from NWSL. I'm not familiar with the Overland Limited set so is the pilot truck an inside bearing or outside bearing type? Can you see the entire wheel, or does your pilot truck have an outside frame?

To follow up, I did not find the Overland Limited set on Bachmann's site, but if it is a UP FEF series loco, the pilot truck is an inside bearing type with exposed wheels. NWSL will have what you need, and the wheels are very high quality
 
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well I need both, also for the cars in the set, so they helped half.

but, if you looked on http://www.bachmanntrains.com/, it shouldn't be to hard to find, pick the bachmann logo on the homepage -> H0 scale -> train sets -> Overland Limited.
and that gives this page: http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=4

but it's not a UP FEF, it's actually a fake locomotive, based on the NYC's Niagara locomotives.
with a other tender and the metal plates at the front are also removed (no idea what they are called in English...).

the front truck does indeed have exposed wheels, the back one under the cabin has them hidden away, I want to replace both as they both have plastic axes.


also, I'm a bit limited in which wheels I can just get, as I need to get them from RD-Hobby in germany (they have these: http://www.rd-hobby.de/shopping/catalog.php?lang=en&id=446).
 
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