I "broke-out" my Centralia caboose this weekend having been stored since arrival. Disappointed in it's running qualities - tends to skate along the track rather than roll and no amount of fiddling with the side-frames helps. This got me thinking about replacing the wheelsets (which look like they came off a road-roller) with replacement metal ones in an attempt to improve matters. Question is, with what? Wondered about the Intermountain or the FVM wheels but unsure about the axle lengths I'd need. Has anyone successfully replaced the wheels in these Centralia cabooses and if so, with what? I can see my Athearn 33k tanks benefitting from some new finer wheels. Again, which axle length should I be looking at? Also, being an ignoramus on wheelsizes can someone confirm/correct my thinking that 36" is common for freight cars , 33" for passenger cars. Any help on the above gratefully received.
33 inch wheels are for freight cars and 36's are for passenger cars. Don't know which wheelset is better. There is an article on wheels in July-August N scale railroading. Maybe that can help you.
I can't remember for certain, but I believe I tossed the Centralia trucks entirely and replaced them with Roller Bearing #003 02 030 trucks from Micro-Trains. I'm not an expert in trucks, so don't blame me if these aren't prototypical. They roll nice and that's what I was shooting for.
If the wheel sets are anything like what is found under the Athearn 30k ethanol tank cars then they are poor. The wheel size should be 36" and for the FVM axle length have a look here -> http://www.nscale.net/forums/showthread.php?18130-Trucks-(Metal)-Wheel-Sets-Couplers.-A-Little-Info under "N-Scale (Metal) Wheel Sets" I have also compiled some info on wheel sizes in the link above. Hope this helps out a little
