InterMountain 33" Wheel Sets In Bulk???

Bob Delbridge posted:

Anybody sell them in bulk?  I'm planning on converting all my rolling stock to 2-rail, already converted 6, about 10% of the total if I don't count passenger cars.

Speaking of which, are passenger car wheels larger than 33"?

I believe passenger cars are 36" diameter.

So far so good, but I am using code 148 track so.....

And I believe it's quieter.

Hot is correct - almost all are 36".  Modern freight is tending toward 36.

I would ask NWSL - theirs are steel, and they have been known to offer bulk discounts.  My opinion is that steel gathers less dirt.

bob2 posted:

Hot is correct - almost all are 36".  Modern freight is tending toward 36.

I would ask NWSL - theirs are steel, and they have been known to offer bulk discounts.  My opinion is that steel gathers less dirt.

Doesn't matter......Mr. Delbridge runs RC Battery!

Dirt? What me Worry!

Simon

I see IM 33's on the Bay still.

Simon

I asked this question only a few weeks back am I invisible. 

Because I am in Australia and have high shipping rates I buy them off ebay that way I know the cost of everything straight away, I have found they are still around from other hobby shops some advertise here, last year I bought 50 sets off a store in Sacramento Cal forget their name I just bought 15 sets off the Bay I have bought over 250 sets never bought them at a discounted price but you might have better contacts than me I'm not complaining I got what I got and I'm happy.  Roo.

Intermountain Wheel Sets IRC 20050

Thanks guys!  So I take it there's no "50 sets for $XX" listed anywhere?  I bought 4 sets the other day and had 2 sets already.  Guess I'll have to put in a bigger order next time.

NWSL 172 wheelsets are $20-25 per package of 4 (is that 1 car or 4 cars? I'm guessing 1).  That's 2x what the InterMountain wheelsets cost, but at least they have 36" wheels for the passenger cars.

Simon, I actually do clean my rail/wheels periodically, but not as often as I was when I had power to the rails...those days are over!

And speaking of battery power, I just saw this on BlueRails website:

Hello from BlueRail,

We are pleased to announce that a product we have co-developed with Tam Valley is nearing availability. This compact board connects to the DCC decoder of your choice to control your loco and edit CVs with your smartphone using the BlueRail app. Boards can be powered with the power source of your choice: AC, DC, DCC, and Battery, and will be available for HO all the way up to Large Scale (6 amp).

Not sure what this really means for us, since I don't know squat about DCC.  I guess it means you can run a train from your smartphone and on battery if you want and use DCC.

Generally the passenger cars I have seen have 36 inch wheels.   Intermountain does not make them as far as I know.

Also Intermountain only makes one style, needle point, and one axle length.     They are great wheelsets and fit Athearn and Weaver trucks perfectly.     I have also used them to convert MTH and Lionel cars but on some, they tend to be a little loose.    They are too long for Red Caboose trucks and will not work in them.

NWSL makes wheelsets in multiple sizes and styles.    As mentioned they make .172 wide treads, also .145 anI think .125.    They make different lengths of axles for different trucks     They also make both needle point and blunt end axles.      So if you have a unique truck you want to preserve a special you can.   Note that for MTH more than one axle length has been used.

Dear Bob,et al,

I have been buying my IM wheelsets and Kadees for many years from one of our Strasburg show dealers-Mike Rahilly.

Shoot him a email- LMRAHILLY@COMCAST.NET

His price per pack of 4 is VERY competitive  and he is a great guy and O Scaler !!!

Hope this helps. 

John P Dunn Sr,   

Strasburg 10-12-2019

Intermountain sells them direct on their website; $12.95 for four axles.  They also still sell their Bettendorf 50 ton truck kit; $5.95.

I believe forum sponsor Scale City Designs carries them too.

Hello All,

I sell single packs for $9, list is now $12.95.  However, buy 25 sets for $8.75 each, totaling $218.75.  50 sets for $8.50 each, totaling $425.  100 sets for $8.25 each, totaling $825. All plus actual shipping, except a bulk order of 100 includes shipping.

I also sell Kadee's also.

Contact me at lmrahilly@comcast.net

Thanks

Michael Rahilly

Thanks everyone!   I need to decide on how many I need/want to get right now.

I have a mish-mash of brands of trucks, hope the IM wheels fit.  I'll get hold of NWSL for the passenger cars.

Bob. You received a better response than I did must be where I live that puts people off. Glad you have sorted out your wheels mate you won't regret buying them they are a good product. Roo.

Nev, don't fret, these guys are fine.  Tell Bob Comerford I said hello!  I know he visits here but haven't seen him on in a while.

I think I have a problem...When I contacted Brad Strong at Signature Switch about making my #6 switches I told him I was still running Hi-Rail wheels on all my equipment.  He told me he could changed something to handle that during the construction of the switches, but I could never see what he had done.

There appears to be a thin brass(?) shim on the inside bottom of the frog, I'm assuming he made that thinner to account for the pizza-cutter flanges on the Hi-Rail wheels.  Using the IM wheelsets I'm getting some derailments, which I believe are caused by the IM flanges dipping down in the frogs

Doesn't happen all the time and doesn't happen with all of the 6 cars that I've got the IM wheels on.  Funny thing is on the mainline no matter what speed I don't get any derailments, but when moving thru the sidings it happens.  It may be the brand of truck on the cars in question.  I'll have to try identifying the trucks to see if I simply need to replace the ones that are giving me problems.

I can't add shims because of the Hi-rail wheels on my engines, man what a system I have created for myself!

So long story short I have to hold off buying more wheelsets until I'm sure I can fix the problem.  I may have to go back to Hi-Rail wheels on these 6 cars, didn't have ANY problems before the swap.

Bob.

Before you scrap the wheels could you try putting another shim in the frog like this...

That would work for the IM 2-rail wheels, but would most likely interfere with the Hi-rail wheels still on my engines, I have no plans to redo 20 engines

You could carefully take some of the flange depth off.  

I have a 2-railed Lionel B6 - rather than risk pressing those beautiful drivers I mounted it on a compound table, shielded the motor, and turned it on.  A sanding drum brought those wheels down for steel tire installation.  No wobble!

I forget how I mounted it, but a wood fixture is good enough.  You need to carefully protect the motor from ironand abrasive dust.

I'd have to do a real count but I bet that would be close to 300 wheels including leading/trailing trucks and tender wheels!!!  That's a lotta cuttin

Ordered 25 sets, thanks Michael!!!

I found on 2 of my cars that the trucks were more loose than on the others, so I tightened the screws a bit and so far it's fixed the derailment issues.

Anybody ever use the blue Loctite to keep these screws from backing out?