Weaver freight car trucks are back

clem k posted:

I saw these at Stock Yard Express at York. Made by MTH. Friction bearing Bettendorf. Die cast,  I believe someone else had earlier posted this also. 

Good news.  For how much?

Not cheap, and no arch bars, so no return to the good old days.

Hello Clem, I stopped by their booth yesterday and did not even take notice. I am looking for a set to replace a 2 rail Weaver hopper car.

If MTH is making them I am sure I will be able to find them at my local hobby shop.

Thanks for the heads up !!!!

 This is great news. 

Great news indeed, Dave!  I’ve been buying up (and hoarding!) a significant quantity of the Weaver die-cast Bettendorf-style trucks ever since they announced they were closing up shop...and have been very sparingly allocating them to only certain freight car projects so as to not use them all up!  I hope they’re reasonably priced and readily available!

FWIW, the MTH number for the Weaver Bettendorf trucks is 20-89023, the price is $24.99 per pair.  Train World has them listed for backorder with a projected arrival date of June 30, 2018. 

 Seeing MTH is making these. Would anyone else like to see a mount included with them to directly mount the Weaver trucks to an MTH car. Something similar to what Atlas offers with their replacement trucks. This would lower the ride height. Allow you to mount the Kadee directly to the car without the mounting shim. Save you the hassle in carving up the MTH truck when adding Kadee's. I have used Weaver trucks on all my MTH flat cars. Really improves the looks as the car rides much lower.

colorado hirailer posted:

Not cheap, and no arch bars, so no return to the good old days.

Well idk what you mean by "cheap". It is 2018 and the standard of living in China has risen since the "turn of the century". The last time Weaver brought in the die cast trucks and couplers the price was around $20.00 for the pair and couplers. An increase in $5.00 is reasonable. 

Now remember that these newer die cast sintered wheels are an improvement over the original stamped steel wheels in looks and weight.

I’m still a fan of the old Athearn plastic (nylon?) O scale trucks, which in the seventies were unbelievably cheap at $1.50/pair for Archbars, Andrews, Bettendorf, or Roller Bearing. They worked well, but were only available in smaller profile flanges. Best of all, there were no concerns with zinc rot, although early issues of them in the fifties were diecast metal. I guess the tooling was swallowed up by Horizon in their acquisition of all Athearn, and if they were available today would be priced at over $25. 

Bill in FtL

Actually Horizon still has the trucks in stock. I just purchased about five dozen pair. My local hobby shop (Nick’s Trains, Raleigh, NC) ordered them from Horizon. I forget the exact price but 12-14 per pair I think, but don’t quote me on that.

George Lasley

Dave_C posted:

 Seeing MTH is making these. Would anyone else like to see a mount included with them to directly mount the Weaver trucks to an MTH car. Something similar to what Atlas offers with their replacement trucks. This would lower the ride height. Allow you to mount the Kadee directly to the car without the mounting shim. Save you the hassle in carving up the MTH truck when adding Kadee's. I have used Weaver trucks on all my MTH flat cars. Really improves the looks as the car rides much lower.

Not really because forum sponsor Scale City designs has a bolster that will do that. If MTH had to include such a part, the truck price will go up to include the r&d, manufacturing of such a part.

Gentlemen,

  Still good new that they are being made.

PCRR/Dave

I picked up 3 pair at YORK. They were selling for $27 a pair and $25 if you purchased a case of 6. A buddy of mine and I split the case.

If you spent more than 15 bucks on a Weaver car, then you will be in or exceed the price of a used MTH Premier. Glad I converted the last few cars needed before Weaver closed.

That is a fairly high price considering these do not have rotating bearing caps-- just saying.....

Jeff78rr posted:

That is a fairly high price considering these do not have rotating bearing caps-- just saying.....

But they are Full die cast- including wheels and NOT Thin sheet metal bolsters behind rivited die cast sides either.  OR the earlier Weaver Die cast trucks with those fugly stamped steel wheels.

So, what happens to the Weaver plastic trucks when you guys swap them?  I happen to love the plastic ones as they work best for mine and the Appalachian & Ohio's whole operating layout concept.  We are collectively nearing 500 coal cars and combined with Intermountain wheels, the plastic trucks are our (performance proven) standard.  For the price, I don't understand the market for Weaver die cast trucks.  the only thing I would search them out for would be if I was building a model that I couldn't hide any more weight in so the die cast weight would help. I am always looking for plastic Weaver trucks of either type; solid or roller bearing. 

Here's were I'm at: I'll pay $2.00 a truck ($4.00 a pair) for undamaged Weaver trucks!  I don't want the plastic wheels.  I can only barter down from here because Intermountain plastic trucks are nicer and sell for $5 a pair new, so my price seems pretty reasonable. If 3 rail is your thing...I have some trading fodder trucks from Lionel and MTH stuff I convert.

Several plastic Weaver T&C went in the garbage can. Got 10 bucks a set for weathered ones I took off my cars back in the day. Oh well?     M.B. Klein was happy.

Jeff78rr posted:

That is a fairly high price considering these do not have rotating bearing caps-- just saying.....

i had sticker shock when i saw these at stockyard express this week ...they are $27+tax..going to be around$30 total. in fact of the price, thumbs up to mth for making these.

Jim Berger posted:

Jeff78rr posted:

That is a fairly high price considering these do not have rotating bearing caps-- just saying.....

i had sticker shock when i saw these at stockyard express this week ...they are $27+tax..going to be around$30 total. in fact of the price, thumbs up to mth for making these.

Truth be told, MTH was supplying Weaver with those diecast trucks, long before Weaver closed up. Weaver lost their supplier in China, and subsequently contracted MTH to make their trucks for them.

By all means, take the best offer you can!  It looks like the average between the bottom of SIRT's trashcan and your $10 is right in the ballpark for my $4 a pair!  In my case, this is my hobby and takes a back seat to everything!  There is zero room to simply add more money to my budget, so I "live" my hobby within my means.  Some days I save up for what I want, some days I do with out, and some days I seize a good deal! 

Hi Rick

Are you still looking for Weaver trucks? I have a box of roller bearing trucks. Any interest? Apologies for late response but I have been overseas for last 3.5 months.

Ian

Ian, 

Thanks for the post, no worries about the lateness!  One of the most important skills for me in this hobby is patience!  

I am still interested in Weaver plastic trucks.  I do have to stick with my $4 limit per set.  This would have to include postage.  If you would like to (and I think it is appropriate) we can continue this off site via email.  My email is rbaconiii@earthlink.net  .

Unrelated to model trains, my American curiosity (and probably ignorance) is getting the better of me... You location displayed in your profile combined with you last name leads me to ask; is there a relation to Herbert Munro the motorcycle speed record holder?

The PLASTIC trucks can be used for scenery or flat car loads. 

Andrew

Rick

I will send you an email. No, I'm not a relation to Herb Munro. 

Ian

These were out at a train show in Indianapolis a month ago.

I still use the plastic trucks for 2-rail conversions with Intermountain steel wheel sets. They're equalized and track well if the car is properly weighted. They're becoming scarce, so I'm looking at using Atlas trucks in the future.

Hey Matt I have some modern type Weaver Delrin trucks

Clem

Wow, $25 for a two pack. Didn't they use to be half that?