Large Scale Central

Gary Raymond Wheels

Modeling Rolling stock
#1

5 AMS cars were put on the R.I.P. track during the Ops Session because we couldn’t get them to stay on the track good enough to carry out the switching manuevers. Now my track may not be perfect, but close to 30 trains were run in two days and over 200 cars were switched (delivered and retrieved). So it can’t be all bad. Decision made to change it or this nice looking equipment is out of here. I am changing the couplers to Kadees and looking at replacement wheels. Are Gary Raymond wheels for replacements the answer? Emails with the company, maybe Gary, said they had a F26 series that should work and 5 different models to choose from. I guess I have wait until the data sheet arrives and then find a solution. I would have put Bachmann wheels in the trucks, but the shoulder around the axle makes the Bachmann wheels to wide for the trucks.

Has anyone done this? The wheels are nice looking, but they don’t stay on the track. My concern is that I’ve tried the Gary raymond wheels before and don’t know if the style I chose were to prototypical or what.

#2

I like Gary Raymond wheels and have them on a number of my cars. Gary’s wheels come with 3 different types of flanges. For outdoor use DO NOT get the scale flanges. They will not stay on the track. They are great for indoor layouts that have perfect track. The simiscale work great on most outdoor layouts, but if you have any really rough spots then go with the deepest flanges.

I don’t know which AMS cars you are talking about, but I have stock AMS box cars (1:20.3) and those appear to be Gary Raymond wheels on it. Your problem might be the trucks themselves. Try setting one truck fairly snug and back the bolster screw out a 1/4 turn on the other. My trucks seem to be fairly rigid so that may cause problems on a not so level spot.

#3

Ric, first dumb question, have you checked the back to back gauge on all the wheels?

Also, I’m not familar with the trucks, are they sprung, equalized, or rigid? Could be the problem.

Regards, Greg

#4

Biggest problem seems to be the thickness of the flange. The AMS wheels pick the LGB 1600 turnouts.

#5

Ric, I checked a couple things on mine and found two things that could cause a problem. First, the wheels are gauged a tad tight to the inside. They could be spread just a tweek. I used the Kadee gauge on my coupler height gauge. Also I noted that one of the air hoses hung a little too low and caught on turnout parts causing the car to jump on occasion.

Gary Raymond makes a beautiful wheel, but he’s a stickler for prototype practices and makes his wheels to prototype specs. If the rest of the world gets sloppy…then…:frowning: his wheels don’t work. Try giving them just a tad spread and you may be ok.

#6

The Kadee gauge is a bit sloppy. You might calibrate yourself with a set of calipers first. I highly recommend the Aristo gauge for $10, it has min and max measurements for the wheels. The grooves in the kadee gauge center the edges of the flanges, and it’s really the back to back you need to set.

Regards, Greg

#7

I am getting info from G Raymond, but feel they will be to thin on the flange much llike the AMS/Accucraft wheels. It looks like the Bachmann wheels can be used if the hub is cut/filed/ground down to be flush with the front wheel edge. Certainly worth the experiment.

#8

I’m not convinced you need to buy new wheels… Measure the back to back first, you might save some $$.

Regards, Greg

#9

Thank you for the input. What would be the ideal, back to back, dimension for the Accucraft wheels?

#10

Read down this page, with the min & max back to back specs:

http://www.elmassian.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=85&Itemid=95

I’d also strongly checking your switches.

Regards, Greg