Hi gang. If you are like me and are upgrading to the new thin sideframe trucks I would like to pass on a word of warning. Out of a dozen i ordered I found 2 defective sets.
One had a wheel ( one single wheel on an axle ) that was different from the other 3. No that wasn't a typo. The actual wheel was a different tread width ( narrower ) and a different contour on the face of the wheel facing out, making it very obvious something was not right! Looks like one of the Chinese who assembled this truck ran out of the new style of wheel and substituted what appears to be the older slab face wheels. It actually looks like a wheel from the first run SW9 diesel switcher!
Second truck was found when I went to inspect the rest of my purchases. I noticed the axle on one truck wobbled around loosely in the bubble packing while the other 3 axles were motionless....uh oh. Sure enough, when removed that thing was flopping all around, unlike the other three axles. Looks like the sideframe bearing has something missing inside to capture the axle end correctly. Truck will droop on one end drunkenly when on the track. Pic shows how wheel has enough side play to rub against the back of the sideframe. The other wheel shows the separation that is normal and does not get closer.
Please inspect all sets when you get them! I have emailed AtlasO and will keep you posted of my progress. Atlas is a good reputable company so I doubt I will have issues with a replacement set. I took the good truck from each set to finish the car i was on and have to wait for parts for the other car ( another Atlas product that gave me issues this week, the bolster on my steel reefer disintegrated while trying to replace the trucks, dang thing just fell off the body, broke in 4 places! )
Vince
