Steel axles and wheels

[sloan]

Help I changing out my rolling stock wheels soon  ,ans as usual I don't know what to order or who to get it from     I'm lookin for steel wheels with steel axles for Bachmann,atlas and assorted cars    33" or 36" and whats the difference .I'm assuming one is longer that the other ,and which one is the most popular ?

[Santa Fe buff]

Help I changing out my rolling stock wheels soon  ,ans as usual I don't know what to order or who to get it from     I'm lookin for steel wheels with steel axles for Bachmann,atlas and assorted cars    33" or 36" and whats the difference .I'm assuming one is longer that the other ,and which one is the most popular ?

What Scale?

[glennk28]

As a rule of thumb--most freight cars of 70 tons or less would use 33" wheels.  Passenger cars, and freight cars of 100 tons or more would use 36" wheels. Some extra-high cars (for the time) such as auto racks and TOFC flats used 28" wheels. 

Older cars--fifties and earlier, mighty use wheels with cooling ribs on the back.  Newer wheels do not use these.  gj

[sloan]

HO

[JerryB]

Sloan:

The 33" and 36" refer to the diameter of the wheel tread. As glennk28 wrote, the correct diameter wheel is generally dependent on the age and weight capacity of the car. More modern cars use the larger 36" diameter wheels while older cars use the smaller 33" diameter wheels. There are many exceptions as glennk28 noted.

Usually the best solution is to replace the existing plastic wheels with like diameter metal wheels. Use a scale rule or a pair of calipers to determine what size is required. It has nothing to do with which size is most popular.

Happy RRing,

Jerry