Protocraft O scale 100 ton RB trucks

 Well you may have to make a bolster shim to get the height correct. I put those trucks on my Atlas well car set. They roll great now! If I had the money and could get them, I would put them on everything. I thought they were all gone? ( just proto 48?)

 You should also get a KD height gauge to get consistent heights on conversions if you need it.

Be advised Protocraft trucks are P 48 which is a different track gauge.

Bob

Bob Harris posted:

Be advised Protocraft trucks are P 48 which is a different track gauge.

Bob

Now the question is are Atlas's 2 rail tracks proto 48? 

Curtis1983 posted:

Bob Harris posted:

Be advised Protocraft trucks are P 48 which is a different track gauge.

Bob

Now the question is are Atlas's 2 rail tracks proto 48? 

no

Engineer-Joe posted:

Curtis1983 posted:

Bob Harris posted:

Be advised Protocraft trucks are P 48 which is a different track gauge.

Bob

Now the question is are Atlas's 2 rail tracks proto 48? 

no

Thank you for your answer. You just saved me a lot of money.

In the past, Protocraft had their builder make one or two runs of standard O gauge, e.g. 5 ft. gauge (O5W) 100T Roller Bearing trucks (same gauge as Atlas trucks) but they are now out of stock and only the 100T 4 ft 8 1/2" P48 versions remain.  It has been stated on this forum in the past that Protocraft has wanted to restrict their stock to the P48 crowd-only so not sure what the likelihood of another O5W run of these 100T RB trucks taking place.  The Protocraft standard O gauge (O5W) 100T RB trucks do come up for sale on the secondary market from time-to-time but don't hold your breath, if you know what I mean. 

Another 100T Roller Bearing truck option is a nice brass version supplied by (ASM) American Scale Models (Bill Davis).  You can find them on eBay by searching "American Scale Models O Barber S-2 100-Ton Roller-Bearing Freight Trucks".  These are nice brass trucks and slightly cheaper than the Protocraft variant but they are not equipped with miniature ball bearings and use a bronze sleeve-style of bearing, e.g. similar to Atlas, Lionel RB trucks.  Without the ball bearings, they do not roll quite as good as the Protocraft trucks (which almost roll too good) but they do roll as good or better than Atlas trucks, probably due to tighter tolerances in the bearings on the ASM brass versions.  Adaptation of the American Scale Models trucks to the Lionel / Atlas cars will need some custom bolster fabrication to get the truck to join up the car as well as bringing it to the correct ride height.  The ASM trucks also have a rather odd way of attaching the truck to the car bolster.  The supplied attachment screw and spring are designed to thread down into the truck bolster from the top, not really ideal for retrofit jobs.  However, you can drill out the truck threads in the ASM truck bolster and use your own screw to mount them up from the bottom into a threaded truck mounting hole that you put in your customized bolster, just more work that you need to consider if you go that route.   

Scott

 I prefer trucks with real bearings inside. There is no such thing as "they roll too good" for me. I like running long trains.

I'm am now looking at the trucks from PSC. They have a model that has real bearings. As soon as I can, I will report how well they roll and how well they are made (detailing too) here.

 I wish Protocraft would consider making more standard O gauge trucks. I finally got some and love them. If I had the resources, I would have bought out the remaining stock at that time.

 I do also like the latest trucks from Atlas. They are well built, well detailed, and also roll good. Because I have some older versions that don't roll well and even have zinc pest rot, it clouds my judgement on the new ones. I sent some rotted ones back to Atlas and got no reply. That also has changed my look at their products. Seems to be how things are done nowadays. I wish they could have at least returned them to me. I could have put the axles to use anyways.

Scott Kay posted:

In the past, Protocraft had their importer make one or runs of standard O gauge, e.g. 5 ft. gauge (O5W) 100T Roller Bearing trucks (same gauge as Atlas trucks) but they are now out of stock and only the 100T 4 ft 8 1/2" P48 versions remain.  It has been stated on this forum in the past that Protocraft has wanted to restrict their stock to the P48 crowd-only so not sure what the likelihood of another O5W run of these 100T RB trucks taking place.  The Protocraft standard O gauge (O5W) 100T RB trucks do come up for sale on the secondary market from time-to-time but don't hold your breath, if you know what I mean. 

Another 100T Roller Bearing truck option is a nice brass version supplied by (ASM) American Scale Models (Bill Davis).  You can find them on eBay by searching "American Scale Models O Barber S-2 100-Ton Roller-Bearing Freight Trucks".  These are nice brass trucks and slightly cheaper than the Protocraft variant but they are not equipped with miniature ball bearings and use a bronze sleeve-style of bearing, e.g. similar to Atlas, Lionel RB trucks.  Without the ball bearings, they do not roll quite as good as the Protocraft trucks (which almost roll too good) but they do roll as good or better than Atlas trucks, probably due to tighter tolerances in the bearings on the ASM brass versions.  Adaptation of the American Scale Models trucks to the Lionel / Atlas cars will need some custom bolster fabrication to get the truck to join up the car as well as bringing it to the correct ride height.  The ASM trucks also have a rather odd way of attaching the truck to the car bolster.  The supplied attachment screw and spring are designed to thread down into the truck bolster from the top, not really ideal for retrofit jobs.  However, you can drill out the truck threads in the ASM truck bolster and use your own screw to mount them up from the bottom into a threaded truck mounting hole that you put in your customized bolster, just more work that you need to consider if you go that route.   

Scott

Right now I don't feel like making anymore adjustments to anything after the hell I went through converting Lionel's 57' mech reefer to 2 rail.

I will just keep the current Lionel trucks and use NWSL 36" wheels. Good news about NWSL. I just ordered a set (4 axles)  of these. I'm happy to announce that I received these wheels 1 1/2 weeks after ordering. I need to order from them 4 more times. This is the most economically feasible route for me at this time.  

I mounted Atlas 100 ton roller bearing trucks on Lionel's 66' gon, and found after months of work that even though the truck sideframes have only a slight thickness variation,that slight difference keeps the trucks from swinging as much as the Lionel 3rl trucks. So with the Atlas truck,if I try to get it around a 48" curve,derailments are common. I been trying to find the Lionel replacement axles but can't find the correct axles to fit the Lionel trucks.

Al Hummel

I have the Lionel 66' gondola. I kept the Lionel trucks but used NWSL 36" diameter wheels. I have never tried to use Atlas's 100 ton trucks. 

The Lionel spinner axles I've ordered:

item #         Wheel/axle size

Alan Hummel posted:

I mounted Atlas 100 ton roller bearing trucks on Lionel's 66' gon, and found after months of work that even though the truck sideframes have only a slight thickness variation,that slight difference keeps the trucks from swinging as much as the Lionel 3rl trucks. So with the Atlas truck,if I try to get it around a 48" curve,derailments are common. I been trying to find the Lionel replacement axles but can't find the correct axles to fit the Lionel trucks.

Al Hummel

 

The Lionel replacement axles can be found on NWSL's website. Their website isn't very user friendly. Take your time searching so you won't purchase the wrong item.

As of 2 weeks ago, NWSL did much better shipping their product out to me compared to a year ago.

Curtis1983:

Thank you for this information on the Lionel 66' ttuck replacement options.

Al Hummel

Curtis1983 posted:

Alan Hummel posted:

I mounted Atlas 100 ton roller bearing trucks on Lionel's 66' gon, and found after months of work that even though the truck sideframes have only a slight thickness variation,that slight difference keeps the trucks from swinging as much as the Lionel 3rl trucks. So with the Atlas truck,if I try to get it around a 48" curve,derailments are common. I been trying to find the Lionel replacement axles but can't find the correct axles to fit the Lionel trucks.

Al Hummel

 

The Lionel replacement axles can be found on NWSL's website. Their website isn't very user friendly. Take your time searching so you won't purchase the wrong item.

As of 2 weeks ago, NWSL did much better shipping their product out to me compared to a year ago.

Just a reminder that NWSL will be closing for good in a few months.  Owner is retiring.  Taking orders for in-stock items up to July 1st.

Rule292 posted:

Just a reminder that NWSL will be closing for good in a few months.  Owner is retiring.  Taking orders for in-stock items up to July 1st.

WOW. Uh oh.....

Will NWSL's business be sold to someone else? Too many model railroaders of all scales depend on NWSL for a lot of things not just freight car wheels.

...we can only hope...

Mark in Oregon

This is true. But that business needs some one who is a machinist, or hires a very good one.This was there down fall the owner was not and the one he hire was a sorry replacement. There mod 3 thru 6 gear boxes in the last 2 year were just garbage. When you tightened the 2 halves together they would bind They were OK on the screws because they were made In Spain and Germany.

I dought if it will be sold, it would take about 50 K and the rewards are just not there. Some one like

Bill Davis will probably buy the remainder of stock and do a resale on whats left.

Bob

Does anyone know if Lionel is planning on making a 100 ton 2 rail conversion kit? We wouldn't have to go to NWSL if Lionel had completed what they had started. Why would Lionel not make 36" diameter wheels for their modern scale freight cars? 

Bob Harris posted:

This is true. But that business needs some one who is a machinist, or hires a very good one.This was there down fall the owner was not and the one he hire was a sorry replacement. There mod 3 thru 6 gear boxes in the last 2 year were just garbage. When you tightened the 2 halves together they would bind They were OK on the screws because they were made In Spain and Germany.

I dought if it will be sold, it would take about 50 K and the rewards are just not there. Some one like

Bill Davis will probably buy the remainder of stock and do a resale on whats left.

Bob

This seems to me to be a bit harsh.

I continued to buy items from them after their move from Washington, and they were all just fine.

It's my understanding that the current owner is getting out due to the fact that he can't bear to continue on after losing his wife who recently passed. I doubt most of us would feel any different...

Mark in Oregon

no it is not , based on fact. the present day items are  are flawed. I am sorry for his loss

Bob

Curtis1983 posted:

Does anyone know if Lionel is planning on making a 100 ton 2 rail conversion kit? We wouldn't have to go to NWSL if Lionel had completed what they had started. Why would Lionel not make 36" diameter wheels for their modern scale freight cars? 

Didn't see it in their newest catalog. The only thing listed so far is the 33" wheels for the 70-ton trucks. From three feet away, it's hard to notice that the wheels are smaller than they should be on my 73-foot Centerbeam flat cars.

 Like Alan Hummel, I use the Atlas 100 ton RB truck on my Lionel 66 ft gons with no issues.  Plus they give the car that nice low slung look of the prototype.   The length of the car I think dictates a 5 or 6 foot min. radius, however.

R Nelson posted:

 Like Alan Hummel, I use the Atlas 100 ton RB truck on my Lionel 66 ft gons with no issues.  Plus they give the car that nice low slung look of the prototype.   The length of the car I think dictates a 5 or 6 foot min. radius, however.

Due to space limitations my I can only have 45 & 49 radius curves. I don't know what that equals in feet. I have 4 of Lionel's 66' gondolas. I hope that will work when I build the layout in the future.

48" radius is 4 feet radius or an 8 foot curve diameter

45"  would be 3.75 feet radius

49" = 4.08 feet

just divide by 12" to get feet.

Curtis1983 posted:

Due to space limitations my I can only have 45 & 49 radius curves. I don't know what that equals in feet.