Where to find low profile 3 rail trucks for scale cars

Weaver has a die-cxeast truck that should work for you.

I agree the Weaver die casts are the only ones that will give the correct height. The old Atlas plastic trucks from the 70's are low too but they were junk trucks

Gord:

Your best shot is to use Weaver die cast trucks without the coupler booms and use Kadee couplers or body mount a 3-rail coupler. You may have to put a shim washer on top of the truck to prevent the flanges from hitting the car floor. That should drop the car substantially as the Weaver coupler boom adds 1/8" to the car height.

I've converted some old cars from 2 to 3-rail, and it is true that the
"right" 3-rail truck can be on a case-by-case basis. I just looked at some modern MTH and Lionel freight cars and
the truck bolsters look pretty low - at least as low as Weaver's. I've used a pair of PRB trucks on a conversion.
Not a big fan of Weaver couplers - either type, though for different reasons.

The Lionel trucks of which I speak are the true, modern, low-bolster type - not the "old/modern" truck that maintained the PW high-bolster proportions. I know that they will do in some cases. Some of those old cars just
aren't adaptable to our format, though - not without surgery.

I rather like the old Atlas plastic trucks, myself (the old car tooling has re-appeared as the "Trainman" line). Good detailing and the flanges were no worse than "Fast-angle" types. The big couplers mate with O-gauge couplers pretty reliably. If you put a squillion miles a year on a car the plastic wheels might wear down. Don't know. Plastic can be very tough.

Hi-rail wheels can sometimes be put into 2-rail trucks. I've done it. Then there are coupler issues.

Yes have many of the old Atlas cars that I custom painted and some I picked up.
These trucks are perfect actually for height and look good. But the plastic wheels wear off and do not roll that well and are not heavy enough to track well.

The problem with the Weaver wheel sets is that many are not set to the right gauge and short out on some of my turnouts.
The wheels are to close together.
I have a bunch of the newer Weaver cars and am having trouble with many of them.

I really want good quality free rolling trucks that look good and are heavy so they track well.

Most of the new Atlas, MTH and Lionel cars when on a track with just the very slightest of grades will roll away.

Hello

I have For Sale 13 pairs of  new Weaver die cast 3 rail sprung Bettendorf trucks. Original price from P&D Hobby $10.95. If you want them, please contact me off line and make me an offer we can both live with.

 

Thanks

len_allman@yahoo.com

Having done a few cars in the manner that you describe, I have found that the

newer-design Atlas, MTH/ Lionel and K-line(?) high-end trucks have low bolsters. The earlier high-bolster designs were in keeping with the PW thinking.

 

I like Weaver trucks well enough; it's their couplers that don't work well. The die cast

couplers can work better than the plastic, but the uncoupling disk can hang so low

that it will short out on small irregularities (U/C section) and often has little room to

move.

 

The early Atlas plastic trucks were accurate and track well - I would not call them

"junk" at all. Weight the cars; the couplers mate pretty well, and look no worse than

any O-gauge coupler. (The old Pola trucks/couplers are hard to deal with.)

 

I have often put hi-rail wheel sets in 2-rail trucks, and often a Weaver coupler will

fit nicely on the truck bolster. A little fiddling may be needed; case by case basis.

 

I love the old 2-rail "O" stuff; it can be inexpensive and historically interesting.

I just this week finished 3-railing and old wood/card stock/brass boxcar that I got

for cheap at auction. Looks pretty good among all the modern production. It had a

high floor and a lot of washers atop the Walthers lead-casting trucks that came on it, so it took to the earlier Lionel high-bolster die cast trucks very well, and sits nice and low.

Glad to see that others like the out-of-the-box (box? what box?) thinking.