Some of my rolling stock runs up on the guard rails when crossing turnouts. My NMRA standards gage shows that the wheel flanges are too close together. What's the best way to reset the wheel flange spacing without damage to the trucks. I have this problem on some but not all of my Lionel and MTH rolling stock.
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Okay, here is some more information. The rolling stock is a mix of freight cars by Atlas, MTH, Lionel, Weaver, Kline, and Williams. They are all post war with fast angle wheels. Passenger cars are a similar mix but with fewer problems going through turnouts. Cars having the most problems are MTH, but none of the others have wheels that fit the grooves in the NMRA standards gage.
All the track is Atlas. All the turnouts are Atlas or Ross. I removed the trucks on one of the MTH boxcars and replaced them with a set of Atlas wheels. The boxcar now runs through the turnouts quite well but those wheels are out of gage too. Just not as much. The offending MTH wheels are a good 3/32" narrower than spec.
Wheels on all these cars seem to be pressed on the axles. To make all these wheels meet spec, they would have to be spread to fit the gage. I wouldn't want to bend any axles or break any wheels. I have some pullers and some presses. But I don't have any tools for jacking the wheels farther apart.
The NMRA gauge is to be used only with scale wheels running on scale track. The wheels and wheel gauge on our tinplate trains are not set to NMRA standards. Different locomotives especially, may be set to a different gauge, depending on wheel thickness, design, etc. Depending on the design of your wheelsets, you may or may not be able to readjust the wheel gauge. Use a caliper to measure the wheel gauge of your rolling stock that tracks properly, and try to reset the gauge of your problem rolling stock.
Larry
What size switches? It may be the trucks are lifting up off track because turn is to tight for trucks. Just a thought.
Minimum curve on turnouts is 072. The most significant problem occurs on double slip switches. Not all the cars have a problem. Maybe as much as ten percent of all cars have a hiccup by stepping up onto a guard rail or crashing into one of the little flange guides in the switch. It is the wheel flange hitting a piece of track that is the problem. Trucks that have wheels spaced within about 1/16" of the O gage standard seem to have no trouble. I think if I could spread the wheels about 1/16" farther apart without damage to the truck, that all would be fine.
I think all the newer fast angle wheels have the wheels solid on the axles? As compared to the old postwar Lionel trains with wheels turning on the axles. So you really have no practical way to adjust wheel gauge.
This is one of the big problems of 3-rail O-gauge, the lack of uniform standards with wheels and track. This is why some of the hobbyists have minimized the number of turnouts on their railroads. Sorry, no easy answer here!
Double slips tend to be especially problematic in any scale, and are perhaps better avoided unless wheel and track standards are more precise.
Maybe someone else with more experience with the newer equipment can tell if there are good replacement wheelsets that might be an answer to this problem. Or if certain types of switches are more problematic or incompatible with certain brands of wheels. Changing wheels would be a lot of work and expense if it involved a major change-over.
If its only the double slip that is the problem, might be easier to go to a different brand of switch. If you can take the wheel sets off the trucks then use your press to adjust the wheel spacing. I don't have a press I use my drill press. I change locomotive wheels like that, never tried the rolling stock fast angle wheels.
The fast angle wheelsets have wheels pressed onto splined axles. You may be able to gently press the wheels farther apart with a wheel puller.
Larry
I just came across this exact same problem with new MTH cars - especially on the Atlas 22 degree Crossovers. The cars ride up on the plastic separators and sometimes derail and / or cause shorting. The wheel spacing on the problem MTH rolling stock is on average 0.050 inch more narrow than the wheel spacing on trucks that work just fine. I also noticed that the problem trucks are the ones that have the thumbnail type de coupler. It would be cool to locate a tool that, under controlled conditions, increase the wheel separation. As everyone knows, disassembling MTH sprung trucks is a pain. So a tool that would increase the wheel spacing without taking the trucks off the cars would be worth the money!
Maybe a valve spring compressor from the automotive, or small engine repair field would do the job.
The spring tool may work, but if the wheels stick and then give suddenly, you will end up with wheels that are too wide in gauge now, in which case the wheelsets have to come out anyway. Make a close tolerance gauge of aluminum or steel to fit the gauge of wheels that track properly. Use the tool to reset the gauge on your problem wheelsets.
Larry
Perfect, Perfect, Perfect - I'm gonna buy one. I'm also going to machine a gauge that will fit around the outside of the wheels to prevent them from spreading too far. You guys are great - super ideas.
It may be easier to modify the switch. I have done this to several Atlas O-72 switches by gluing a flat tooth pick to the top of the guard rail. This slightly decreases the distance between the guard rail and the running rail. The primary purpose of this change is to allow scale wheel cars to go through the switch without derailing. It has worked very well. I don't have any issues with 3-rail wheel cars with this modification.
I also made extensive modifications to an Atlas double slip using brass and painter's tape. The primary purpose of this change was to enable short wheel base engines to run through the switch without stalling or shorting. I haven't had any issues on derailing through this switch since making the change. This change was made by trial, test and error. I can back a whole train of MTH scale length passenger cars through this switch without problems.
I will see if I can get some time to take some photos.
Joe
Get a bigger hammer!!
This is an old Sears Craftsman battery terminal puller. From the Sears website. Lisle Battery terminal and windshield wiper puller Click to link.
A couple of members of the Fort Pitt Hi-Railers purchased a lot of older Weaver coal cars with plastic trucks and couplers. We spent some time with this tool re-gauge-ing the wheels, (out/ a little further apart). All those plastic trucked Weaver cars worked fine. 
Mike CT
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