I am looking to upgrade some old wooden "O" scale freight cars I got recently. Some still have the old 2 rail trucks, and I want to remove them and replace them with some 3 rail trucks. Someone told me the Weavers fit better, but I kinda like the Lionel all diecast Sprung trucks....any thoughts?
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MTH and Atlas also make replacement trucks too; I've used the Atlas 100 ton trucks to convert a 2-rail tank car to 3-rail and they worked great.
I'd recommend selecting a truck that matches the era of the caboose - i.e. bettendorf or archbar trucks in lieu of a 70 ton roller bearing truck.
-John
Both Lionel and MTH freight trucks have a raised bolster. They will give the car a high water look. Weaver and Atlas trucks are flat more like the prototype.
Pete
If they have bolsters under the car remove them and trim away the center sill. You should end up with a flat surface to mount the Lionel trucks. The car should then be at the correct height.
Weaver plastic or metal trucks will work with a spacer if you are running kadees, With the claw it sit a little higher but it will work. That would be really your only option Best truck are the plastic Athearn with a thin spacer high rail wheel set and kadees.
John23 I have done that trick with weaver cars and atlas trucks. I know this also works with the old All Nation and Athearn kits as I have done the same thing.
Doug
Yeah, I didn't like the way that the installed Weaver couplers stuck out on my PS-2 covered hoppers so I did some cutting & trimming and mounted Lionel diecast sprung trucks on them. The height came out perfect and the couplers are the right length.
John
You have to remember that the Weaver cars are really set up to be 2R and ride high with the claw type couplers. The Coupler adds about a 1/3 in to the height. I have experimented with sanding the coupler down to about half of that and that works too.
Doug
Yes, I know. I compared the converted car on Lionel trucks with a 2 rail car - both on the same track - and the overall height was the same. Besides removing the bolster and adjoining sill I had to remove the nub that the bolster mounted on. That was a bonus, the thing that annoyed me at first was how far the couplers stuck out on the PS-2 hopper, the coupler shanks were designed for the big covered hoppers and the 50' box car. On any car the design of the Weaver 3 rail coupler does raise the car up.