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Anybody sell them in bulk?  I'm planning on converting all my rolling stock to 2-rail, already converted 6, about 10% of the total if I don't count passenger cars.

Speaking of which, are passenger car wheels larger than 33"?

So far so good, but I am using code 148 track so.....

And I believe it's quieter.

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I asked this question only a few weeks back am I invisible. 

Because I am in Australia and have high shipping rates I buy them off ebay that way I know the cost of everything straight away, I have found they are still around from other hobby shops some advertise here, last year I bought 50 sets off a store in Sacramento Cal forget their name I just bought 15 sets off the Bay I have bought over 250 sets never bought them at a discounted price but you might have better contacts than me I'm not complaining I got what I got and I'm happy.  Roo.

Intermountain Wheel Sets IRC 20050

Last edited by Roo

Thanks guys!  So I take it there's no "50 sets for $XX" listed anywhere?  I bought 4 sets the other day and had 2 sets already.  Guess I'll have to put in a bigger order next time.

NWSL 172 wheelsets are $20-25 per package of 4 (is that 1 car or 4 cars? I'm guessing 1).  That's 2x what the InterMountain wheelsets cost, but at least they have 36" wheels for the passenger cars.

 

Simon, I actually do clean my rail/wheels periodically, but not as often as I was when I had power to the rails...those days are over!

And speaking of battery power, I just saw this on BlueRails website:

Hello from BlueRail,

We are pleased to announce that a product we have co-developed with Tam Valley is nearing availability. This compact board connects to the DCC decoder of your choice to control your loco and edit CVs with your smartphone using the BlueRail app. Boards can be powered with the power source of your choice: AC, DC, DCC, and Battery, and will be available for HO all the way up to Large Scale (6 amp).

Not sure what this really means for us, since I don't know squat about DCC.  I guess it means you can run a train from your smartphone and on battery if you want and use DCC.

Generally the passenger cars I have seen have 36 inch wheels.   Intermountain does not make them as far as I know.

Also Intermountain only makes one style, needle point, and one axle length.     They are great wheelsets and fit Athearn and Weaver trucks perfectly.     I have also used them to convert MTH and Lionel cars but on some, they tend to be a little loose.    They are too long for Red Caboose trucks and will not work in them.

NWSL makes wheelsets in multiple sizes and styles.    As mentioned they make .172 wide treads, also .145 anI think .125.    They make different lengths of axles for different trucks     They also make both needle point and blunt end axles.      So if you have a unique truck you want to preserve a special you can.   Note that for MTH more than one axle length has been used.

Nev, don't fret, these guys are fine.  Tell Bob Comerford I said hello!  I know he visits here but haven't seen him on in a while.

I think I have a problem...When I contacted Brad Strong at Signature Switch about making my #6 switches I told him I was still running Hi-Rail wheels on all my equipment.  He told me he could changed something to handle that during the construction of the switches, but I could never see what he had done.

There appears to be a thin brass(?) shim on the inside bottom of the frog, I'm assuming he made that thinner to account for the pizza-cutter flanges on the Hi-Rail wheels.  Using the IM wheelsets I'm getting some derailments, which I believe are caused by the IM flanges dipping down in the frogs

DSCN0521

Doesn't happen all the time and doesn't happen with all of the 6 cars that I've got the IM wheels on.  Funny thing is on the mainline no matter what speed I don't get any derailments, but when moving thru the sidings it happens.  It may be the brand of truck on the cars in question.  I'll have to try identifying the trucks to see if I simply need to replace the ones that are giving me problems.

I can't add shims because of the Hi-rail wheels on my engines, man what a system I have created for myself!

So long story short I have to hold off buying more wheelsets until I'm sure I can fix the problem.  I may have to go back to Hi-Rail wheels on these 6 cars, didn't have ANY problems before the swap.

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You could carefully take some of the flange depth off.  

I have a 2-railed Lionel B6 - rather than risk pressing those beautiful drivers I mounted it on a compound table, shielded the motor, and turned it on.  A sanding drum brought those wheels down for steel tire installation.  No wobble!

I forget how I mounted it, but a wood fixture is good enough.  You need to carefully protect the motor from ironand abrasive dust.

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