Quartering Steam Drive wheels

Since they're on hard axles, it's clearly very important!  If they're not correct, the rods will bind and in extreme cases, the locomotive won't be able to run at all!

 Quartering wheels properly is needed to keep the side rods from binding as the wheels turn. Normally the right side rods lead the left side rods by 90 degrees, except for the Pennsy, which had the left side lead. Repair shops have a rivet press with wheel cups to properly align and press on the wheels.

 If you are very careful, you can use a vise to press the wheels back on. Getting the wheels quartered exactly 90 degrees is not that important, but getting ALL the wheel sets the same IS.

 The wheel cups have a pin that locates the crankpin hole in the wheel, and the cups are keyed to go in the press at 90 degrees to each other. Press one wheel on the axle, insert the axle into the locomotive, insert the assembly into the press, align the other wheel in the cup, and press the second wheel home.

Larry

TrainLarry,  Thanks for the info. I am hoping to get a rivet press soon, just ordered a wheel puller from Port Line Hobby in MA.   The AF system has two steel plates that look like you can put the wheels in correctly aligned then press them on using the plates as the backing and alignment tool.  Not sure if that is how it works though.  Anyway it's a neat idea especially for six and eight wheel steam engines.  Again this tool is for American Flyer,  I am not sure if Lionel ever had such a tool.  

I'm surprised there was not more interest in this topic. 

I can only guess that they haven't experienced the issue.

Most of my steam re-wheeling efforts have been on Lionel prewar. A buddy of mine found me an old Dake arbor press at an auction. We made some tooling for it to accept wheel cups from Gordon Hinkle of Toy Train Restoration Products. He sells cups for pre and postwar. I've tried pressing wheels in a vice with little sucess. Getting the wheels quartered and the axle exactly perpendicular with the wheel set is equally important or else you'll have wheel wobble. If you're serious into engine repair, get good tools. A new import arbor press will cost you probably close to $200. A good used American made arbor press at a tool auction will run you around $50.00.

Regards,

The original postwar Lionel wheels cups made were:

ST-375-1 axle tool

ST-375-2/3 diesel (no quartering pins)

ST-375-4/5 berkshire (with quartering pins)

ST-375-6/7 2035 style wheel (with quartering pins)

ST-375-8 - sleeve to fit ST-375-6/7 for center wheel

ST-375-9/10 2026 style wheel (with quartering pins)

The cups have two different diameter shafts. The larger shaft goes into the base of the press, and has the odd number (such as ST-375-3). The smaller shaft goes into the ram, and has the even number (such as ST-375-2).

The cups are very specific to the wheels. For example, the ST-375-4/5 berkshire cups only fit the sintered iron berkshire wheels. They cannot be used with nickle rimmed berkshire wheels.  As I previously posted, Hobby Horse has developed quite a few additional wheel cups.

I will post a list of the cups that came with the LTI/Hobby Horse set shortly.

Best reason ever to go Diesel!   Wait 'til you try this in HO...whadda joke!

So little interest - because this is really not something that happens very often on 3-rail locomotives.  You can find two ways to do this in back issues of OGR.

Lionel axles are often splined, which makes re- assembly easy if you marked the driver.

Getting quarter within a thousandth of an inch should be your goal- but unsprung mechanisms are often a bit more tolerant.  If you ever graduate to two rail antiques, you have to become an expert at quartering - most have slipped, or worse were assembled incorrectly.

It might be less expensive and aggravating to send the thing to Joe Foehrkolb, who is very reasonable in price and who knows what he is doing.