2-railing Lionel Husky Stacks using stock trucks

Hello Geno,

NWSL (North West Shore Line) makes realy nice wheelsets. Just cut off the coupler and replace the wheelsets and reatach the rotating bearing caps. I have that done on several double stacker from Lionel. No Problem. The Item Number should be:

8893-4          36”/172 Lionel ‘Spinner’ axles

But please doublecheck it with the Homepage from NWSL.

Best regards

Martin

Martin,

Thanks for your reply! I knew there was a NSWL part that would work. Did you use Kadee 805's?

Geno

Geno,

This is one of the more recent threads ...

https://ogrforum.com/t...ky-stack-conversions

Geno,

I have used the 805 and also the 804. The link from Mike show's you the conversion very good.

Greetings

Martin

You might want to consider the newer 700 series -- 740 (Metal Coupler/Metal Box) and 745 (Metal Coupler/Plastic Box). For short-clearance, the 743 (Short shank metal coupler/short plastic box). Those are the ones I'm using. I use the 745's for brass cars with single-insulated wheels.

Matt- thanks, I will look into the 700 series couplers.

D tuuri- I thought about using the Atlas 70 RB trucks, but with more than a dozen Husky stacks I needed a more cost effective means of 2-railing the cars.

Geno

When I was converting mine, I had the post from Mike P to go by. He even listed the part number of the NWSL wheel sets.

 I remember ordering 100 of them as it was a good deal. I stopped converting them and sold off the balance of the wheels. I wish I had kept them. I'm not sure if they still offer the large quantity discount? I got a good price on the KDs from P&D Hobby too.

 It still is exciting to me that Lionel can offer some greatly detailed cars at good prices, for us to consider. Some of their car set prices are a steal. Well detailed, sturdy fine details, and low priced! I just wish they were easier to convert. So when they announce KD coupler pads on their newest releases, it is a winner for me.

 I still look to Atlas first for their car offerings and MTH for their engines. We have a lot of good choices right now.

 BTW 12 husky stacks x 4 axles = 48 axles. So a quantity order of 100 isn't that large.

 Sometimes I convert them in stages as I gather up the funds. I remember thinking about the total cost and labor. Now, I forgot all that and I am just glad I did it. I don't have that energy to do it all over. I have to build a layout to handle them all.

1. Use the existing Lionel RB truck, which requires some modification and new wheelsets for 2R operation.  I believe the package of wheelsets mentioned is  ~$17-19 not counting any discounts or bulk orders
2. Use the Atlas RB trucks are ~$23 also not counting any discounts, typically can be had for $19 fairly easily.

As NWSL now offers unassembled wheelsets for slightly less, I still think if you source out some Atlas trucks and compare vs NWSL wheelsets you'll find with the time savings the Atlas trucks are a better choice in terms of cost. 

It used to be the Atlas truck sideframes were much thicker than the Lionel versions and looked a bit out of the scale, now days with the newer Atlas RB trucks you'll find these actually look as nice as the Lionel versions.

Also if you want I'm sure you can find a 3R modeler that can use the 3R lionel trucks and should be fairly easy to sell, which might further reduce your overall end cost.  

Looking forward to seeing photos of your Husky Stack conversions.  

Don and Mike, I have been considering the Atlas option. Going the Atlas route with 70T RB trucks and Kadees is definitely a viable option, especially since I could sell the old Lionel trucks off- 3-rail guys do love them and I agree it wouldn't be too hard to sell them. The issue would be finding enough Atlas trucks- like everything else it would take a little bit of time, but that's okay.

I was working in Oregon last summer and while I was away, my wife decided to "organize" my train collection- I went to inventory my Husky stacks, and of course some were missing. So it turns out I had bought a few sets I didn't realize I had- I missed a few road releases, but I'll pick them up on Ebay, at a train show, or even here. The best thing about this hobby is you can pick up where you left off.

Geno