Are Scale Wheels Recomended?

Scale wheels need to be run on track design and built for scale wheels.  They usually will not run on high rail track.  The shape of the rail and the switches are not designed to accommodate scale wheels.  However, there are so many different kinds of track out there now, may be some of them might accommodate scale wheels.  It will be interesting to hear other operators experiences.

I use scale-wheeled equipment on the club layout, but I wouldn't recommend them unless you're willing to live with the following:

• The occasional derailment when they pick the frog of a 3-rail turnout. Curve-replacement turnouts ( e.g. O-72, etc) will be problematic.
• The occasional derailment when they find a bad spot in your track work.
• The concerned looks of your three-rail colleagues as they say you've gone over to the Dark Side. This will be offset by your two-rail colleagues saying you're coming FROM the Dark Side.
• The strange sudden attraction for brass rolling stock.

OK, the last two were tongue-in-cheek, but if you're using flat-topped rail (Atlas, ScaleTrax, Ross/Gargraves, FasTrack, or RealTrax the wheels will roll fine, but you'll have issues with turnouts. I haven't gone over to 2-rail, but at this point, I've gone hard-core 3RS. The up side is that the MTH locomotives will operate in both a 2-rail and 3-rail environment; the down side is they're very sensitive to bad track.

 

If you can live with the above, scale wheels are fine.

I was using scale wheels on GG tracks and switches, no derailment at all and my track was not perfect!

highly recommended for good appearance, but after few month of usage you will be thirsty again for more and finally you will finishing using 2 rails, as happened to me..

Andre.

My 3RS layout is all Atlas O track & switches. I modified all the diverging route guard rails, and now operate many pieces of 2-Rail Scale pieces of rolling stock with trucks from; MTH (2-Rail), San Juan, Athearn, PSC, and Overland Models.

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question but what are scale wheels?  I recently switched from Lionel hi rail to Gargraves.  Some of my rolling stock derails going through switches.   It looks like some of the wheels get pinched between the check rail and frog. Some of my favorite cars are a Williams passenger set that I got back in the 70's.  They came as a kit and even the trucks had to be assembled.  They have a lot of play on the axle and do not go through the switches well at all.  I would appreciate any suggestions, thanks.

They are O scale wheels. If I'm correct they are to RP25 standards. Not HI-Rail wheels with deep flanges, but smaller flanges more to scale.

Classic high rail toy trains and O scale trains have been around for 100 years. About 20 yrs. ago they bridged the gap and gave us highly detailed scale sized models designed to run on high rail. I agree with the 3RS forums thinking that making other changes that will add to the realism of these models is in order, but changing to scale wheels isn't that crossing the line? Wouldn't that be the same thing as just getting the scale version?

I started model railroading as an original O scaler building my own models from scratch and at that time O scale was 3 rail. So I know the advantages of using 3 rail. We just put the 3rd rail on the outside. About 20 yrs. ago I changed over to these new highly detailed high rail models because they are 3 rail. I just hand laid my own rail and made my own turnouts, once again putting the rail on the outside for realism. Thats the reason I never became a 2 rail scaler. Putting scale wheels on these models changes the reason these models were designed in the first place. To give high railers a model that looks as realistic as the scale models but to be used on high rail 3 rail track. 

 Just an old farts opinion  

What I'd really like to see (and I got flamed for it several years ago when suggesting it) is the end of the fast-angle 3-rail wheel. This is especially more relevant as the last hold-out for "round-top" tubular track, Lionel, switched to FasTrack which is flat-top (and supports scale wheels nicely, by the way.) The use of the "old school" code 172 RP25 wheel is more compatible with current hi-rail track than the code 145 scale wheel as it has a wider tread and a larger flange. The other plus side to this is that the wheelsets are gauged to operate with 2-rail turnouts. They might have issues with some large-frog 3-rail turnouts like #8's, but I think it's time this be seriously looked into.

 

Just my opinion, which when combined with $4.00 will get you an over-priced cup of coffee.

What scares me is I remember when a cup of coffee was 5 cents and was all you could drink. 

I have been trying to find a solution to my "want" to use two rail wheel sets on my Atlas three rail track for some time.

I can advise that two rail freight cars track well on three rail Atlas track, with one very important caveat.......

THE LATERAL (I.E.. SIDE PLAY) of the wheel sets in each truck has to be very small, almost non existent. Unfortunately, a LOT (i.e. most?) Atlas cars, especially cars from several years ago, have a LOT of side play, with some cars at almost 1/4". If the side play is "large", the wheels will pick a turnout every time. If the side play is "small", the car will track through the turnout but each wheel set will drop into the over wide frog of Atlas switches. (Fellow posters have advised that they glue styrene strip into the base of the frog to either reduce or eliminate this problem. I do not know if this solves the problem "every time".)

 

The advantages, to me, of the use of two rail cars is that using car body mounted Kadees the car coupled spacing is more prototypical, the train exhibits slack action when starting like a real train, and more cars will fit into a siding.

 

I also believe that some judicious dimensional adjustments would make this a no brainer, although it might involve design changes to the frog area of turnouts, limiting wheel set lateral play, and perhaps slightly larger flanges for two rail (as a last resort!)

 

I have several MTH two rail scale models. On steam engines, the driving wheels are not a problem when traversing frogs, probably due to the unsprung drivers. Tender trucks are a problem though.

Depends on what you mean by scale.  .172 tread width is the most forgiving and was the NMRA standard, .145 or 2 is the new NMRA standard as I understand it and should work fine on all available commercially available 2-rail track and .115 which is finescale or P48 tread width and will work with any track that meets of exceeds ALL NMRA standards for 2-rail track, which most commercially available track does not.