It was asked on another thread why Lionel didn't put roller bearing rods on any of the new J3a's. I know the TMCC J3s have axle centers of 1.800" while the streamline Dreyfus has a axle spacing of 45mm or 1.77". Could someone measure their new J3 and see if its 1.77" or 1.800"? If its now 1.77" or 45mm that means one could use roller bearing rods from other manufacturers or the Lionel Niagara or Dreyfus. The fact that the drivers are now pressed on makes me wonder of Lionel used the Dreyfus or ESE frame instead of the TMCC unstreamlined J3 frame with these engines.
BTW Lionel's 5452 was built as a Dreyfus and would have roller bearing rods for its whole life.
Pete
