Proto48....compromise.

Rick,

Everything in life comes with a price.

There are cheaper options in Proto48 trucks besides just using the imported trucks.

I posted this last July:

http://www.shamokindivision.co...oto48-truck-options/

Drop me an email off line. I'd be glad to answers more of your questions about proto48.

George

Rick,

I think the trucks are not so expensive as the time will involved laying down the track and making switches. Maybe I am wrong I don't know.

but using normal O scale with ME track the look is incredible if you know how to weatherize and decorate the scenery.

my 2 cent

Andre.

I agree Andre, for me a 16th of an inch is not noticeable...now the wheels are a different story.

Andre,

Only of you look at the wheels from the end of the car.  In a train on a model railroad a 145 tread wheelset looks quite nice to me and most of my O gauge equipment has 0.172 treads.  I do not wish to become a slave to my track gage.  NMRA wheelsets are fine with me.  My trains run all day without tracking problems and that is good enough for me.

Joe

Side frames on models often stick out way too far.  That is of course due to three things:

Gauge is too wide

Wheels are too wide

Often the sideframes themselves are too thick, and/ or too far away from the wheels.

here is my o scale model.

the side frames where reduce in a 1/4 approx. to void what Bod said.

this was a tedious job but worth it.

Andre.

Very nice Andre.

Thank you!

You are my mentor in two rails, thank to your videos!!

Ag.

Not nearly as nice as Andre's but this shot clearly shows the difference in track gauge:

I don't know that the difference in track gauge is big enough to matter to me.  But then I think, if I'm going to handlay my track anyway, why not make it to the prototype gauge?  I mean, it's the same effort either way.

My biggest concern with proto48 is the dearth of modern 70 ton and 100 ton trucks at affordable prices.  Protocraft trucks are beautiful, but too expensive for my budget.  If I end up going proto48 for track gauge, I may try to modify Lionel or the newer Atlas trucks to be narrower.  Again though, is this worth the effort for the small difference in gauge.

I've thought about making my own side frames out of resin.  If the trucks were strong enough, I could see that as a economical alternative.  I suppose if I made a pair of suitable masters to cast resin, I could do the same at a slight increase in size and have brass castings made.

All things I can worry about when I cross those several bridges down the road.

Jim

Somebody made bolsters for the Athearn trucks, and NWSL makes the wheels.  Problem is, once you get all the pieces, you might just as well buy Yoder's trucks.

i agree - not really worth the effort.  Out of the hundreds of pieces of O Scale I have, only three locomotives and maybe eight cars are converted.  17/64 is my anwer to the dilemma - that way I can use flex track, or go run elsewhere.

I drew out the track gauge with digital calipers, and the difference in gauge was so little I wouldn't have noticed it on my layout.

See, hobbies are like that.  Some of our brothers and sisters have a center rail, and it does not bother them.  My problem was that it ws wrong.  Just me.

All good info gents.

Is there a way or someone to convert MTH's SW-1's to proto48?

Rick.

That's where I ended up as well.  The thing that jumps out at me are the wheels, there is just no comparison to the P48 wheel sets, but that's the thing with this hobby...we all have our own personal likes and dislikes or things we will accept or not and I am just grateful that there are so many options for all of us out there.  Case in point, I am working on my roundhouse area, coaling area ect, and had I stayed with 3 rail it would just be a mess of track with that center rail, where as now it's a beautiful mess of track work.

Nice photo Bob.

Andre, thank you for the kind words, I appreciate it. 

Re- phrase the question.

Obviously, the .115 wheels are as close as you are going to get to scale wheels, and Proto-48 is the closest you get to overall scale.

What else, exactly, do you want to know?  Operationally, tinplate wheels are the best, and as you get closer and closer to true fidelity, operation suffers.  Perfect track and perfect rolling stock works fine in Proto-48, so long as you stick to prototype radii.

Bob has given you the answer! How particular do you want to be, and how much time and money do you want to spend getting there? To me, that small bit of difference is not worth the aggravation. Pick your poison. That is the beauty of this hobby! Take it to whatever extreme you like.

Simon

I personally like the looks of the .172 scale wheels.  to make sense out of that, remember that there is a huge group of O Scale hobbyists who like the looks of a center rail and code 200 track with big ties.  Who knows what causes folks to gravitate to things that are not truly realistic?

I am not a world- class builder, but I am way better than average, machining my own drivers and main frames, etc.  When I encounter narrower wheels, I change them out for .172.  I probably have the skill to lay track to accept .145 wheels, and my current track works with Sunset's .158 drivers - but I prefer the exaggeration of the wider wheels.

I do not have the skill or patience to work with the .115 wheels.  I did try them, mostly out of curiosity. I do oversize rivets, oversize bells, once in a while I exaggerate the size of decal logos, etc.  What others do with their hobby is whatever entertains them.  That is the essence of a hobby.

I built a Accurail kit yesterday, The oversized wheels didn't even come of notice till I put it about six inches from face. Hardly anywhere near the distance I'd be looking at my layout from. The wheels are only noticeable to me from head on up close. I think reliability is the most important to me. Being in a garage doesn't help with track gauge either, who wants to fix derailments all day long? In all that though, in a perfect environment .115 wheels and Proto:48 modeling would be ideal.

Rick, and all:

I have  standardized using Weaver Trucks  and  NWSL  .145 wide wheels.  I can reduce the flange ways a bit, and  even  make my own  self guarding frogs  in the  slow speed  'yard trackage'.  It gives a different  perspective .  The Weaver Trucks  are said to be  the closest  truck frame width, and the  .145 wheels   are called  'semi-scale' by some.

It works for me, and   I can run on NMRA Std Ga, but some of the  NMRA wheels have trouble on the self guarding frogs.

Ed Reutling

Hi to all

I remake a IM wheels set from .160 to .135, look fine and there is not to much work, but honestly when the set is mounted, I at least, can't noticed.

here some pictures.

IM wheels are good option for the budget, NWSL are better looking but more expensive IMO.

Andre.

Interesting Andre, I must agree with you.  Thank you...

Chris,

I paid attention that if you paint the wheels using a dark brown (like heavy rust) and you leave only the tread bright the wheel will look more than fine.

Welcome back Ed!!!!! 

Absolutely, I was doing some experimenting with that last night myself..

Any pictures??

Andre.

No not at the moment, I'll try and take some soon.

Thank you Scott!

Question, why you did if the tread suppose to be completely bright?

Andre.

Rick'

Yes I agree with you about truck prices. There is only one provider who has really high prices but there are less expensive routes available. Rich Yoder trucks are about half as much as the other supplier. The lest is San Juan Car P48 truck kits at $12.95 and using protocrafts wheelsets at 17.95 a set.

If you are using flex-track, going Proto48 is a choice for you to make as Proto48 flex-track is now available. But if you are handlaying, why lay your track to an incorrect gauge?

Just my thoughts.

Chester

Hi Andre,

I didn't mask off the entire tread width because the entire tread width generally does not come in contact with the rail (provided the track is in gauge). Therefore, I only masked off a portion of the tread width (about 2/3 of the tread width) to give the illusion that the tread width is not really as grossly oversized as it really is.  Especially in the case of the blue flatcar on the right with the oversize 0.172" treads.  Now understand that it is only paint on the wheels and if the track is uneven or out of gauge and the outer portion of the tread comes in contact with the rail then the paint will naturally wear off and the tread will reach a natural "pattern" of unpainted tread wear. 

Scott K.

Austin, TX

Scott

I have been thinking about Proto:48 and decided on Standard O scale with the finer wheels and smaller code wheels. It still allows me to run just about every piece of O scale equipment, and I don't have to re-gauge steam locomotives. The 3.5 scale inches doesn't really seem noticeable. Plus I could operate on one of the local 2 rail clubs within distance of me.

What I have been doing is with regards to painting my wheels is to keep the outside edge shinny, it mimics what we see from cars going through the retarders at a hump yard....I will toss some pics up soon when I get my new camera. 

This is a clever idea, and using graphite could bring more realism.

AG.

Ooooo that is a good idea....gonna have to try that.