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So I have a MTH 6 axle diesel loco with a set of blind drivers on the inner axles.  I want to put flanged drivers on those axles so that the trucks don't swing off the rails like they do now. 

As a test, I put a flanged set on and the one problem I need to solve is that the holes for the axle are oval, and the axle moves up and the wheels detail through turnouts and whatnot. I'm thinking about crafting a half Moon shaped spacer with a spring to push down on the axle and keep the wheels on the rails. 

Does anyone have any tips or know of a product that is out there that does this? I looked at NWSL and nothing jumped out at me. 

 

Thanks, 

Ryan

Last edited by rplst8
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I think you're talking about the two innermost axles of a six axle diesel.  The tighter the curves the more the trucks hang out.  There was a "how-to" article I saw somewhere about replacing the blind wheelsets with flanged wheels.  I think the writer of the article pressed NWSL 33" wheels onto an axle inside a Plasticstruct piece of tubing, but I don't remember how he fastened it to the truck.  Maybe one of our readers can locate the article.

The three-rail units were designed to negotiate O-31 curves (15.5" radius)--O-42 (21" radius) on the longer diesels. They had a bevel cut on the inboard wheel sides to allow the wheel to drop on the outside rail and ride back up onto the rail on straight track. There were no springs as this would fight re-railing. If you wanted to flange that axle, you'd restrict the curves to something around O-54 minimum (27" radius) or larger off the top of my head. You'd also need to fix them in place or add stiff springs to prevent climbing/derailing in curves.

bob2 posted:

I note that this is a factory 2-rail unit.  Could be the 3 rail units did not need springs.

Ah yes, that's the difference here.  Mine is a factory 3-rail version. On the 3-rail truck block, the uppermost (in your picture) axle doesn't have those spring and the axle just floats freely. 

Last edited by rplst8
AGHRMatt posted:

If you wanted to flange that axle, you'd restrict the curves to something around O-54 minimum (27" radius) or larger off the top of my head. You'd also need to fix them in place or add stiff springs to prevent climbing/derailing in curves.

I'm not concerned with the larger radius, the minimum radius I have is O-72.  The spring (and maybe a spacer) is exactly what I was wondering about though. 

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