A friend bought what I believe is a 3 rail OO gauge passenger car in Switzerland. He found the wheels are not insulated & have to be replaced. They have to be at least 38'' - 40'' in HO to clear the sideframes. Any suggestions? Already tried NWSL. Thanks
are the truck sideframes metal also? then you'd need to replace the trucks.
if the sideframes are plastic, and you can't find commercially available insulated replacement wheelsets, you could try cutting the axles in half.
actually you'd want to cut a small part of the axle away as well, then insert the axle halves into a piece of plastic tubing. guage the wheels to nmra specs and secure the axles and plastic sleeve with epoxy or other adhesive.
to better give a visualization of what i am talking about, think of the wheelsets in an athearn diesel. they consist of two wheel and axle halves press fit into a plastic sleeve axle gear.....
Let's begin with correct terminology here. Are we talking OO gauge, or OO scale? It sounds as though the equipment in question is from Marklin, which uses studs in the center of the roadbed for third rail pick-up. Generally, Marklin track is HO gauge, and the models are HO scale. OO gauge is wider than HO, and OO scale, at 4mm = 1 foot, is also larger than HO. The Brits have used OO scale equipment running on HO gauge track for many decades. In the U.S., we once had OO scale models, but they ran on track than had the proper gauge for the scale.
Now, assuming the trains in question run on HO gauge track, the easiest course would be to replace the trucks with new ones properly insulated (either plastic wheels, axles or sideframes). European track and wheel standards are coarser than U.S. NMRA standards and don't work as well on our track and turnouts.
You might try some Bachmann 0N30 wheels. They are about 42 or 43 inch in H0 and are gauged for H0 track. They are metal wheels with one wheel insulated from the axle. This means you would have to have all the insulated wheels on the same side if your trucks are metal.
Jim
Quote from: ebtnut on July 16, 2009, 05:03:17 PM
Let's begin with correct terminology here. Are we talking OO gauge, or OO scale? It sounds as though the equipment in question is from Marklin, which uses studs in the center of the roadbed for third rail pick-up. Generally, Marklin track is HO gauge, and the models are HO scale. OO gauge is wider than HO, and OO scale, at 4mm = 1 foot, is also larger than HO. The Brits have used OO scale equipment running on HO gauge track for many decades. In the U.S., we once had OO scale models, but they ran on track than had the proper gauge for the scale.
Now, assuming the trains in question run on HO gauge track, the easiest course would be to replace the trucks with new ones properly insulated (either plastic wheels, axles or sideframes). European track and wheel standards are coarser than U.S. NMRA standards and don't work as well on our track and turnouts.
Sorry abpout the gauge /Scale mixup, probably not the last mistake I'll make. Yes, it runs on HO track, but has no trucks. the axles have conical ends & mount in holes in the side of the car.
since its 3 rails it may be ac instead of dc and it is closer to marklin. and it is arking because in the 3 rail system yhe 2 outter rails are one current and the inner one is the opposite it is kind of like lionel
You can go to Ebay UK and do a search for oo wheels. Bachmann and Hornby both use them. Both use HO track. I have purchased plenty of items from the UK.
If you have a user name and password for Ebay US it will work for the UK also no need to register over there.