Brass trucks - what are the benefits?

Weight was the first thing that came to my mind, better tracking, better rolling may be other benefits.

You've heard the saying,"It's All In The Detail"? It has been the topic of many discussion boards over the years. The two major train makers have abused the train buyers for years. Basically installing whatever trucks they have on hand. Early on it was nothing to find MPC trucks on modern equipment. This thread could turn into rant after rant about the misgivings of the manufactures.

Brass trucks allow for one more step to having our trains resemble the prototypes.

 "So I was wondering what benefit brass trucks have over the trucks that come from the manufacturer?"

  Generally brass trucks are more detailed and more specific for the cars they are made for. The flipside is they are much more expensive due to the lower production numbers and more expensive construction method and materials. For most runners brass trucks are probably overkill when it comes to matching fineness of trucks to fineness of the cars and a pair of Athearn  or Weaver trucks would do just as well. The big bang for the buck is getting rid of the 3 rail type trucks that some manufacturers insist on using on their 2 rail equipment.......DaveB

I think this is a good question.  If you want metal, die cast is cheaper when large quantities are involved.  Brass is cheaper when quantities start to dwindle, since making a master is so much cheaper than creating a steel pressure die.

Plastic also requires a pressure die, so very small quantities in plastic are not going to be cheap.

Detail and rolling qualities are probably not the issue, although over time good bronze bearings will last longer.  K-Line was sticking porous bronze bearings in their die cast passenger trucks - an extra step that was probably not worth the extra cost.

And finally, some die cast will crumble, where brass will not.  We 2-railers had a lot of trouble with broken ears on bolsters - doesn't happen with brass or plastic.

There is no reason why diecast zamac can't have the same detail as cast brass and some are. Lionel's commonwealth passenger trucks are as detailed as Precision Scales brass trucks. One problem you are going to have is I don't believe anyone makes three rail brass trucks. Three rail wheelsets won't fit in two rail frames because the treads are wider. You would have to come up with longer bolsters to spread the sideframes out.

Two railers can put NMRA wheelsets in three rail trucks but then the frames stick out too far. Until someone decides to make brass three rail trucks there won't be any simple solutions.

Pete

For one thing, they will have 2-Rail SCALE wheel sets in them, instead of the hi-rail wheels with pizza cutter flanges. Depending on what type/brand of track you have, those scale, highly detailed brass trucks will look much better and track beautifully.

I am a 2-rail hobbyist & I will share my opinion about brass trucks. They could cost as much as the cars. Protocraft roller bearing trucks cost around $66 / pair. These brass Protocraft trucks I used to convert the Lionel diecast Husky cars to 2-rail are sprung & equalized. They not only have more details compared to a mainstream truck (with brake linkages, axles thicker at the ends & thinner in the middle & cast lettering) but they are also the smoothest trucks I own. I didn’t realize I had a slight sag in the middle of my computer table until the Husky cars with these trucks started rolling unassisted to the center of my table. If Protocraft hadn’t discontinued them in favor of Proto-48 offerings, I would have converted more cars to 2-rail.

Thanks,

Naveen Rajan

Who is the guy that runs that Strasburg O scale show, and makes nice brass cars?

He has NOT inexpensive trucks, but they will need wheelsets changed out for three

rail...IF workable wheelsets exist...dunno if they are brass....with current brass anything, including trucks, as stated above, think $$$$$$$ ka-ching!

Rich Yoder; I have several pairs of his trucks and they are as detailed and accurate as anyone could ever want.  They run ~ $50/pair; not far off the average for quality trucks of this level.

That being said, the vast majority of my trucks are plastic Athearn trucks with Intermountain wheels sets.  They roll exceptionally well and for me personally are adequate as I have a psychological block putting trucks of that cost as much as Rich's under the cars I build - then again, maybe I should just charge more for the cars I build and not worry about it.

"Yoder" I was thinking that, but since it is a common name in SE Pa., NE Ohio, and

east central Indiana Amish country, I thought I was wrong and didn't type it.  I wonder what trucks Brother Love puts under his admired cabooses?  Of course, many of those  cabooses are three rail, but caboose trucks seem harder to find than "plain" freight trucks...Did somebody on here say that MTH was doing Weaver trucks, or they were

done the same place or?

"So I was wondering what benefit brass trucks have over the trucks that come from the manufacturer?"

Brass doesn't suffer "Zinc Pest". Plus it is capable of reproducing fine detail using the lost wax casting process, and it can be bonded by soldering. It also makes for heavier trucks than plastic, though certain plastics can allow for trucks that are more free-rolling.

Bill in FtL

There is no reason we cannot have really good die cast trucks.  Lionel did it in 1937, and their Bettendorf freight 700 trucks are surely amon the most accurate and best detailed, if you do not need brake rigging.

K-Line did a beautiful Bettendorf, then screwed it up wanting to duplicate the modern Lionel bolster attach method.  Very difficult to fix these trucks so they look good above the spring plank.

Auel and US Hobbies did a superb Pullman six wheel truck, complete with working leaf springs, in die cast.

The two major train makers have abused the train buyers for years. Basically installing whatever trucks they have on hand.

Every time someone on this forum says "They're only toys" just adds to the reasoning by the makers that nobody cares what they pump out.  Right or wrong, people will buy it.  When folks start caring about the accuracy and quality of what they spend their $$$ on then maybe the makers will too.

Brand loyalty, blind faith, and nostalgia have not helped the O scale community progress very far in this hobby.

Not long ago I saw a list of available HO trucks and was amazed at all the different styles available for the HO modeler.

bob2 wrote:

If you want metal, die cast is cheaper when large quantities are involved.  Brass is cheaper when quantities start to dwindle, since making a master is so much cheaper than creating a steel pressure die.

Bob, is it the labor and/or cost of brass that would make them more expensive if they made a large quantity of brass trucks?

"Brass" is fine; zinc is (usually) fine; plastic can be fine. I buy brass trucks on Mr. Bay when they look nice and are well-priced, but many do not roll that well. Usually I convert them to Hi-rail wheel sets (yes, they typically roll as well or better than they did with the 2R wheel sets) The newer trucks - regardless of materials - will often have delrin bearings. These roll very well.

High-end "brass trucks" can get us all exited - me included, for sure - but their performance can be lacking. Age/era and case-by-case matters. I've had some brass trucks that roll pretty well, and I've had some that made PW trucks seem "frictionless".