Metal Wheels vs Plastic Wheels

[Trackman Ed]

I would like to know the difference, if any between the metal and plastic wheels on the trucks.  When I purchased my Bachmann train sets almost a year ago, they came with plastic wheeled trucks.  Since my initial purchase (the sets), I have purchased several cars, they all came with metal wheels.  Is one type of wheel better than the other, I don't know.  If anyone has a comment pertaining to this subject feel free to post.  Thanks in advance to all who have good ideas/comments.  By the way I love my Bachmann trains, I am slowly landscaping my layout and have to run the trains every now and then to just to watch em roll.

O.K. metal wheels seem to be the choice to go with, that being said; should I replace the entire truck?  So I'm considering replacing the truck and wheels, I don't understand what rp25 is, someone please enlighten me, thanks.  I have six rolling stock to change out from plastic to metal, where should I go to find a good truck set with metal wheels?

I just looked at wheel sets, and just a bit of confusion set in.  How do I know if I have 36" or 33" wheels?  The more I learn the more I need to know, ha!  Having fun doing this, so I'll keep plugging away. 

Thanks to the friends that have responded to my initial question,  you guys have been very helpful.

[ACY]

Metal wheels are better than plastic, plastic generally only comes in train sets and the economy line. Bachmann has metal wheels available for all their rolling stock. Metal wheels generally help cars track better due to the added weight in addition to being more free rolling usually. Many clubs have a policy that prohibits the use of plastic wheels.

I have never met anyone that found any benefits to using plastic wheels besides being a bit cheaper.

[electrical whiz kid]

ACY; The scrap pile, but you have to "square off" the axle ends.  Wheels ground flat and glued face to face can have some uses, like as sheaves, etc. 
Do yourself a favour; Ed; At least do some research on the "Kadee" website.

Rich C.

[jward]

my experiences are that the wheel contour is more important than whether the wheels are plastic or metal. most if not all newer cars have wheels that conform to nmra specs (rp25) but older wheelsets, especially on the cheaper train set cars, may not. there are non rp25 metal wheels out there, some ahm cars from the early 1970s have them for example. non rp25 wheels will usually have larger "pizza cutter" flanges with a sharp edge, whereas the rp25 wheels will have smaller flanges with a rounded edge.

my recommendation would be to invest the money to replace any of the "pizza cutters" you may have asap. if you have plastic rp25 wheels around they make a good replacement, but if you have to buy new then buy metal. about the only real advantage I have observed of metal over plastic  is that metal wheels tend to run cleaner and spread less dirt on the track. acy mentioned the added weight of the metal wheels but I have found it to be negligible, and whatever weight is needed in a car can usually be easily added elsewhere such as inside the carbody, or glues to the underside of the car.

one thing I do avoid is having any wheelset with plastic axles. it is easy to bend the axles when inserting them into the trucks, and once that is done the wheels no longer run true. metal axles avoid this problem. most metal wheelsets also have metal axles, but some like kadee do not.

[richardl]

Machined metal wheels generally are best.
Kadee are sintered metal wheels and capable of picking up dirt like plastic. Sintered metal is fine metal particles compressed under a lot of pressure to form a wheel.

Generally, if you are a rivet counter, the machined metal have a shiny thread somewhat similar to prototype wheels.
Also, the machined metal are a little heavier.

Downside of metal wheels can be shorts at turnouts as has been experienced by some. That is usually taken care of by fine tuning the turnouts.

Rich

[ebtnut]

A number of folks here have also noted that plastic wheels can sometimes accumulate a small static electricity charge while rolling.  This charge can attract dirt and dust, eventually building up on the wheel tread to the point where it will derail. 

[jbrock27]

TMEd, I have found that Proto 2000 metal wheelsets with delrin axles to be a perfect drop in fit for Bachmann plastic trucks (non talgo style).  If you are careful and not clumsy in the process of placing the wheel set in the truck it is very diffucult to bend the axle out of true.  You can buy them in styles that are ribbed for older cars or smooth back for new and in 33" or 36" if you are into that kind of thing.  How you would tell which size would be based on the year the car was built and it carrying capacity.  A GOOGLE search will help you with that.  That said, most older cars take 33" wheelsets.  I dislike wheel sets that are all plastic, even if they are RP25.
I am a believer that plastic wheelsets add crud to the track.  Not so convinced that the black from Kadees does, eventually the black wears off, leaving silver/gray metal.
Despite the above, I will say the best and most expensive but freest rolling wheel sets I have bought are Intermountain.  They also have metal axles, in case you feel like you are the clumsy type. 
A Truck Tuner can also help to get any wheelsets you have trouble getting rolling, to roll better as long as it is not a matter of the wheel set axles being too long for the truck. 

[jward]

my experience has been that the Bachmann metal wheelsets are a drop in replacement for the current style of cars found in the train sets (the ones with body mounted knuckle couplers)..... I have done many such conversions on those cars, and that, along with adding a little weight and replacement of the couplers if they fail with metal ones, are all the mods that really need to be done to have an inexpensive, good running car.

[jbrock27]

my experience has been that the Bachmann metal wheelsets are a drop in replacement for the current style of cars found in the train sets...

Of course this make perfect sense.  Not sure why this didn't make it into your first post.  I guess you were saving that info for a later post.  I recall you being a big fan of Internountains, at least at one time and mentioning them and Jaybee wheel sets, quite often.  The Bachmann's, not so much, if ever.

Just a point of info, in my shopping, I have found the Bachmann wheelsets to be more expensive than the Proto ones.  I don't hold the old Bachmann train set stuff to be as nicely detailed as the Bachmann Silver Series cars, hence, I try to limit what I would spend to spruce 'em up.

[jbrock27]

i have used the metal wheelsets from bachmann, jaybee, nwsl, intermountain and proto2000. all are good wheels, and i really can't tell which cars have which.

...well, maybe some mention of Bachmann wheel sets.

[jbrock27]

And while the weight of the metal wheel sets may be somewhat negligible, I tend to use all metal wheel sets on cars where I know I am going to find it tough adding weight elsewhere.  Every little bit counts/helps.

[rogertra]

Metal wheels only on the 200+ cars on my GER.

They roll better.

They are made to higher standards.

They add a little weight.

They don't pick up as much crud.

Nothing goes onto the railway unless it has metal wheels.  They are, simply put, the best wheels and beat plastic hands down.

Cheers

Roger T.

[jbrock27]

my experience has been that the Bachmann metal wheelsets are a drop in replacement for the current style of cars found in the train sets...

While I have agreed this makes all the sense, it has not been The Austrian's experience...

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,30174.msg222405.html#msg222405

[jward]

  I recall you being a big fan of Internountains, at least at one time and mentioning them and Jaybee wheel sets, quite often.  The Bachmann's, not so much, if ever.

Just a point of info, in my shopping, I have found the Bachmann wheelsets to be more expensive than the Proto ones.  I don't hold the old Bachmann train set stuff to be as nicely detailed as the Bachmann Silver Series cars, hence, I try to limit what I would spend to spruce 'em up.

also don't forget the Cadillac of metal wheels, nwsl. those have to be the best on the market, but they are pricey.

as for the Bachmann silver series cars, most of them are just train set cars with added weight and metal wheels. I know places where I can buy the non silver series cars for 6 or 7 bucks, and invest a couple more bucks for metal wheels and weight, and have a nice running car for about half the price of the same car in silver series.

[Jhanecker2]

I have been an inspector too long , I grab a caliper and measure whenever I replace parts to make sure I order the correct replacement .  I have a current copy of  the Walther's Reference catalog if I looking for parts or I make sure that I check websites of suppliers for the dimensions of parts .  Shipping Charges & running around to the few Hobby Shops gets to be expensive & time consuming to order the wrong parts . John2.