After I ordered some miniature ball bearings to convert my equipment over, I realized that most of my rolling stock has friction bearing trucks.

I want to convert my entire fleet over to roller bearing trucks (models of roller bearing trucks, not models of friction bearing trucks), eventually as I convert cars over to Kadee couplers from the low truck mount knuckle couplers. Trucks and couplers are closely tied together. I don’t want to invest a lot of time converting couplers to then have to redo everything when the trucks get replaced.

My question is this, who makes the most accurate 70 or 100 ton roller bearing trucks?

This is who I can think of that have made roller bearing trucks in 1/29.

Compare the following; scale to prototype, ease of availability, cost, ease of adding ball bearings.

Manufacturers:

Burl Rice

Aristocraft

LGB

USAT plastic

USAT metal

AML?

Has anyone done a fair comparison between these for cost, availability, etc? I would love to support Burl’s work, I’m going to have to pass except for maybe a few special homemade models. I was thinking the plastic ones might be possible candidates for casting my own copies.

I see Greg has some info on his website.

https://elmassian.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=549&Itemid=1177

I read this article on MRH that got me thinking about how to accurately model trucks.

http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/magazine/mrh2018-06/freight-car-trucks

There was a good thread recently on rolling stock, since that link on my site was specifically for roller bearing trucks.

A little more info here: https://elmassian.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=445:ball-bearing-retrofit&catid=15:rolling-stock&Itemid=509

You are mostly looking for ball bearing retrofits right?

Greg

Greg,

I have the miniature ball bearings to install on my trucks. I’m trying to research what model roller bearing trucks accurately portray the prototype trucks.

I’m one of those super anal modelers that wants everything right, and since I’m modeling 1970, the AAR/FRA mandated in 1968 that any new or rebuilt cars be equipped with roller bearing wheels. Many of my models (USAT, LGB) have friction bearing trucks. I want to see what model companies make accurate 70 and 100 ton roller bearing trucks. And I might as well throw in friction bearing trucks as well.

got it, that’s going to take some research, but right now pretty slim pickings…

sounds like a great research project. If you read Ted’s articles (I trust you found the table of contents) he almost always does the research on the model on how close to prototype it is.

Greg

1970. You also need ACI plates then too.

David Maynard said:

1970. You also need ACI plates then too.

And that is why I’m thankful that Burl created a program to generate ACI plates…

http://burlrice.com/LS/

Greg Elmassian said:

got it, that’s going to take some research, but right now pretty slim pickings

Greg.

Yes it is going to be a lot of research. I’m already finding out how many of the USAT paint schemes on just the 50’ mechanical reefers are fictional… I started with the NP and MILW cars I have. Oh boy…

This might take longer than I thought. This is what happens when I don’t have a layout to plan/play around with.

So you are not trying to put ball bearings in roller bearing trucks, right? That’s how I read the initial post, you really want accurate trucks, and you sort of “got the prototype bug” by adding ball bearings to your rolling stock?

Greg

Greg,

1. I would eventually like to add mini roller bearings to all my trucks.

2. Why add mini roller bearings to said trucks if; 1 car did not have roller bearing trucks in 1970 (then add min roller bearings to the supplied friction bearing trucks assuming friction bearing trucks are accurate), and 2 if model roller bearing trucks is not an accurate depiction of prototype.

3. Leads to research on which model company makes the most accurate roller bearing trucks.

4. Leads one to research specific car numbers/paint schemes to find pictures to determine if car/series had roller or friction bearing trucks.

5. Said research in step 4 lead to the discovery of many fictional paint schemes…

6. Back to square one…

Craig Townsend said:

I’m one of those super anal modelers that wants everything right, and since I’m modeling 1970, the AAR/FRA mandated in 1968 that any new or rebuilt cars be equipped with roller bearing wheels.

Friction bearing trucks were not actually banned until 1991.

Dan Gilchrist said:

Friction bearing trucks were not actually banned until 1991.

New or rebuilt cars had to have roller bearing trucks post 1968. Friction bearing trucks were banned “officially” from interchange by 1991, but by the early/mid 70’s railroads had the right to refuse interchange with equipment equipped with friction bearings.

Yes, but home road equipment, like MOW stuff, could still to this day be riding on solid bearing (friction bearing) trucks. In fact, the one steel processing plant I used to go to, still had flat cars with arch-bar trucks and cast iron wheels still in service at the plant. Since those cars are never interchanged with another railroad, they are still in service. Although looking pretty shabby.

How small have you been able to find roller bearings Craig, as opposed to ball bearings? That would be cool…

Greg

Greg Elmassian said:

How small have you been able to find roller bearings Craig, as opposed to ball bearings? That would be cool…

Greg

Huh? I’ve only found the ball bearings as mentioned many time before in threads here. Sorry if I miss typed roller bearings for ball bearings.

This is just my personal opinion . I think the USA TRAINS metal 33" and 36" trucks are the best ones commercially available . They are heavy (lower center of gravity) and look great . Unfortunately they are sold out . They reliably stay on the track . On my last custom car I built I had to find a pair of roller bearing trucks and took a pair off a AML hopper car I had. So far they have worked well . I haven’t fixed the toe in problem with them yet and when I do i’m sure they will roll alot easier. I also am gonna give the KADEE roller bearing trucks a try when I start on my next project . They looked nice and are all metal .

Craig,

On a 6/26 post you said that you would eventually like to add bearings to all your trucks. You might want to do some tests with cars that have had ball bearings added to the trucks. I have a few Aristo Bettendorf trucks sitting around with bearings that were on my cabooses before I replaced them with actual caboose trucks. They can be so free rolling that it becomes an operational problem when switching. Just the slightest grade, and I mean slightest and the car will roll away. Sometimes practical might be better. Having the correct type of truck for a car is something that you can probably come close to. I have roller bearing type trucks on a lot of my cars. Mostly Aristo, but some USA and a few AML. I assume you are talking strictly the ones with caps that roll with the axle unlike some of the USA and LGB with molded caps. AML will need the toe in problem corrected but after that they also work well. Aristo and USA run fine.

I’ve always wondered if actual sealed bearings might just be the ticket, the extra drag of the seal might be just enough to keep them from rolling, using actual sealed bearings means no lube and pretty much no maintenance ever (except for people like TOC who want to run trains underwater, but that’s another story).

I’m pretty sure you can get them in sealed in this size.

Greg

Paul,

Yes, I want to install a few test trucks with bearings to see how they roll. I kind of want free rolling trucks with overweighed cars (or at least scaled prototype weight) to give a sense of mass. Combine that with a high momentum DCC decoder and I think switching would be really interesting. I only ordered 100 roller bearings to give me a test bed.

If they roll too much, its a good reason to build a layout that is super level.

I could care less if the end caps rotate, but I would like to see an accurate truck(s). I also like the USAT metal trucks but has any measured them off to see how they scale out?

You might read this page where Ted had changed to roller bearing trucks on a USAT 60’ box, and there is a shot of the USAT vs. the Aristo rollers.

https://elmassian.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=378&Itemid=421

Greg