Leaf Sprung Trucks

Atlas caboose trucks have simulated leaf springs, at least some of them do. They use an overlay that snaps onto the side of a regular coil spring truck and looks like a leaf spring. You can buy the caboose trucks, with leaf springs and pickup rollers for the lights, as a separate item. 

Bob,

I got 2 pairs of Atlas O caboose trucks a while back with leafsprings, item 6035:

http://www.atlaso.com/partspdf...on_caboose_3rail.pdf

These are the only ones I've seen.

I assume you mean "functional" leaf springs. I have a number of 2-Rail Scale caboose models with functional leaf springs, but I don't recall seing any 3-Rail caboose models with real functional leaf springs.

Rich Yoder, RY Models, offers exceptional real leaf sprung caboose trucks, but they are available in 2-Rail Scale only.

I've seen the faux leaf springs, but not functional ones.

I have an MTH Premiere NYC caboose and Lionel bay window caboose both with simulated leafs. Walthers used to and Precision Scale still offers working leafs that can be used to replace coils. Precision Scale also offers non functional leafs.

Pete

That's where I saw the simulated leafs, on the bay window caboose!

PSC sells leaf springs, can the coil springs be taken out of a truck and replaced with them?

They have item 357 Caboose leaf springs, package of 4 for $3.00.  Looks like they're made out of metal (brass?).  Page 85, catalog No. 5, Passenger and Freight Super-Detailing Parts.

I have some resin cast springs, might have gotten them from Malcolm (aka Brother Love).

1) Yes, depending on the truck.

2) Made out of brass. I have a couple of packages of them, and have put the into San Juan truck kits in order to put them under cabooses. They look and work quite nice.

I still prefer the Rich Yoder leaf spring caboose trucks, as they are out of this world for detail and functionality. Check out his website at www.richyodermodels.com and click on trucks, you will be really impressed.

I have pair of those trucks and never noticed the (simulated) spring just snaps in over the coils. Pretty cool. I'll have to try and order some.

Pete

It's been a while, but I seem to recall the Lionel I-12 caboose had leaf springs.

I thought I remembered seeing a slight "flex" when pushing down on the car, but it may have been my imagination.  Not as noticeable as on a typical sprung truck, but I thought it was present. 

I'll look again when I next remember which box these are in.

-Dave

I have had some success in replacing axle and wheel sets, with three rail, into old 2 rail trucks, like Walthers and others...just did this to replace On30 Bachmann trucks with 3 rail, to get the really short wheelbase I needed.  Any reason why this would not work with Yoder's?

Lionel has had them for at least the last 12 years.  They are on all their expensive "scale" caboosusses.  They are not funcitonal leafs, but the trucks themselves are sprung (hidden coils inside).  They even have made two versions of these trucks. The later ones have rotating bearing cabs and roll much smoother than the early ones shown here.

It is possible to dig up the part numbers for these on Lionel.com, but I doubt they will work with anything non-lionel.  I tried to convert my Lionel Soo caboose to the rotating cap trucks and that was hopeless.

Many of the high end brass models, like Overland, PSC, Yoder, etc., tend to have much more precision journals in their truck side frames, and thus may NOT accept "normal" Hi-Rail wheel/axle sets. A few years ago, I picked up an Overland Great Norther brass 2-Rail scale caboose, and was going to convert it to Hi-Rail wheel sets. That's when I discovered that the end of the axles on the Hi-Rail wheels would NOT work in the Overland trucks. I finally had Northwest Short Line MAKE me a set of special Hi-Rail wheel/axles with the correct length axles AND the correct profile on the exile ends. 

I have since totally given up on converting 2-Rail Scale trucks to Hi-Rail wheel sets, and instead modified all the diverging route guard rails on my Atlas turnouts, and simply run quite a number of 2-Rail Scale wheel equipped freight cars, "as is", on my layout. Problem solved.

HW,

I just looked at his trucks...SWEET!  I wish he would make some Dalman trucks, Keil-Line was the only place I could find them.

I think the only way you could fit 3 rail wheels into 2 rail trucks would be to machine the width of the tread close to the width of a 2 rail wheel. The extra tread width won't fit between the frames of an unmodified two rail truck.

Pete

All simulated, but....

My Lionel SP Consolidation with a Vandy tender has 'em, as do the MTH 64' woodside passenger cars. The tenders on my Lionel Frisco Ten-wheeler and NP 2-8-8-2 have simulated leaf spring trucks. As does my C&NW doodlebug.

So they are out there.

Rich makes nice trucks that are too good for the cars that I build.

Auel at one time made Dalman trucks albeit in 17/64th's

I just looked in my stash of trucks to find a brand new still sealed in the bag of KTM leaf-spring Bettandorfs and I had thought that were all regular Bettandorfs.  They might fund me another set of Rich's archbars....

The two lionel options (both are internally sprung but have simulated external leaf springs)...

Non rotating bearing caps, simply screw into frame from the bottom ($14 each):

Rotating bearing caps, hidden uncoupling tabs, complicated e-ring clip attachment to frame ($18 each):