Six wheel power trucks ?

K-line was the user of the all geared 6 wheeled truck design, ESP in their scale Trainmaster locos.

Lionel/Fundimensions used an all-3-axles powered 6 wheel truck design on their SD models starting in 1978. The center drivers were blind.

Yes.  Very good trucks, and excellent models for the price.  I two-railed five of them, using NWSL kits as well as home-machined drivers.

If you do not like overhang, you only have two choices - wider radii or shorter wheelbases.  There simply are no other alternatives.

I meant K-Line.  edit function and photo posting mo longer work for me.

Posted from an early iPad.

Yeah, the blind-3rd-axle and "off-center center" of this design can look pretty odd, even on 072. MTH has used it (on my PS-1 ICG SD40, I believe); maybe everybody has used it. I get it, but what these designs actually were (back to the "off-center center"), were 4-axle trucks with a fake "wheel/axle-decoration" hanging off the end.

Dan...it bothers me too,i added a flanged set to a dash-9 (lionel),it worked but not great the loco will do O-36 curves i use super O track...with some work i'll bet the trainmaster trucks could be modified also...you will need a wheel or gear puller...hope this helps..all the best...joe

Weaver C 630.  Some had the blind set with metal wheels.   Others, later, the blind set was plastic, most likely because it flopped-around so much.    It is a good likeness of the Alco Asymmetrical (3 axle truck).

Dan

The MTH Trainmaster with new tooling and all axles powered debuted in their 2011 volume 1 catalog.  It surpasses the very nice K-line model in detail. 

https://ogrforum.com/t...m-trainmaster?page=1

The Lionel Trainmaster of 2014 has flanged wheels on the outboard axles but only four axles are powered.  Eric Segal did a nice video review.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0SZnH8vm4Y

ADCX Rob posted:

Lionel/Fundimensions used an all-3-axles powered 6 wheel truck design on their SD models starting in 1978. The center drivers were blind.

I remember those.  They were nice diesels.

My 90's Weaver E-8s have the blind wheels on one end . Some have metal blind  wheels and others have plastic. The Metal ones on the non powered B units swing out on some switches and spark when they contact the center  rail. I wish I could get more of the plastic wheel sets.

Mark

MTH used the same style trucks for their SD9s, C628/630, SD24s and other engines. The newer PS3 engines I believe now use trucks with center blind wheels. At least this is what I have seen with the SD45 and SD24. They share the same truck design with the SD9.

Weaver E8 trucks.  The blind driver (no flange, middle) is powered. Rear (and front of model) is an idle/non powered axle with flanges.  Different from the C630 truck posted above.  This truck does not flop-around.

IMO this truck works well.  IMO.

Upgraded with electrocouplers.

As long as the blind wheel is in the middle of the truck I'm fine with it. The overhang isn't even noticeable on my layout. It's when the blind wheels are next to the fuel tank I am bothered. Even on my wide curves they hang over in excess of a quarter inch, so I can imagine what it would it would look like on an O-54 curve! I will also add that I am not a fan of Lionel's new truck design with flanges on every wheel, they fit very loosely in the trucks and it lets the engines move back and fourth quite a bit, sometimes even causes the pickup rollers to drop into turnouts leading to derailments.  I had to glue styrene strips in all of my atlas turnouts to keep it from happening. 

One addition to that statement. Lionel putting flanges on every wheel leads to them having to leave one unpowered because they are so loose. The gears aren't wide enough to compensate.