Lou, yes there is. They are used to replace the plastic El Cheepo wheels that come on some rolling stock. 
But are they better/worse than metal wheels?
Lou,
Brass IS metal!
Metal wheels is a term used to separate them from plastic wheels. Aristo metal wheels for rolling stock are plated brass, San Val metal wheels, both silver and blackened are brass, USA metal wheels, both silver and blackened are also brass. Iām not familiar with Bachmann metal wheels other than I recall the early ones wobbled. I donāt know about Accucraft, AMS, AML metal wheels as I donāt have any. San Val wheel sets fit most all makes of rolling stock, Aristo, USA Trains, LGB, and possibly others.
Full metal wheels add weight to rolling stock which is a good thing, but donāt raise up the center of gravity, also a good thing. Combination metal and plastic wheels, not so much, if any.
I do have some Gary Raymond and or Sierra Valley silver metal wheels that are plated steel.
There is no problem running brass wheels on brass rails, but the track still needs to cleaned periodically if using track power. Keeping rail gaps to a minimum reduces wheel wear.
I donāt see any problem running brass wheels on SS rails.
As for engines, I just checked the new Aristo 2 axle motor blocks that I have as spares and they are blackened steel.
The replacement metal wheels from Bachman that most people reference are cast pot metal not brass.
Greg
I stand corrected about Bachmann metal wheels. I have a stray pair of axles that I thought were Bachmann and I just put one wheel on the wire wheel on my bench grinder to see why the rail contact surface had a copper color. These wheels are pot metal pressed onto a larger plastic hub. I think that they were copper plated and then finished with some sort of silver plating metal. The metal tire or whatever it is called, easily pops off the plastic hub and this must by why someone had staked the metal to prevent this.
My fellow trainiacs are mostly main line guys and most of what they run came with metal wheels. LGB metal wheels donāt have enough weight to make a difference on rolling stock when in a long consist. We frequently run long consists and sometimes need to switch cars to put the heavier ones forward to prevent derailments from cars lifting off the track on curves.
So I still donāt know who made the two axles that I have, but I just put them in the trash.
Iāll check out Bachmann metal wheelsets next time I see them, however I still have a stash of San Val and Aristo metal wheels, recently bought some San Val RolEz full bearing sets to play with.
Thanks Bob, often copper plating has been done on the raw metal and then some form of nickel or other metal plated on that.
Kind of like chrome plating which is really steel >> copper >> nickel >> chromium
The copper helps other metals adhere and can also be easily buffed or smoothed to improve the surface.
The Aristo wheels are plated with something no one has really identified, but it is a thick plating that I have a hard time believing is nickel, but who knows.
Regards, Greg
Lou Luczu said:
But are they better/worse than metal wheels?
Lou ā¦brass is a metal in my book ā¦itās a soft versionā¦ so my answer to your question is a questionā¦ it all depends on what you expect or want out of the wheels we can purchase?
Is that a fair question>?
Lou, normally brass wheels are plated. I cannot attest why, it might be for appearance, or corrosion protection, or because brass is soft.
Thereās lot of opinions about wear of wheels, and different wheels on different rails.
I was told that stainless rail makes other wheels wear out too quickly.
My experience is that different wheels wear differently and it depends on a lot of factors, and some wheels of the supposedly the same composition wear differently.
Iād rather my wheels wear sooner than my expensive stainless rail, but thatās just my take.
I take care to lube my axles and inspect rolling stock and Iāve not had issues where Iām upset about premature wear.
Like track power vs. battery, you can get a lot of opinions, passionate arguments, and different results.
My opinion is that unplated steel wheels are just fine for me, and wear very well on my SS rail.
Plated wheels never have the plating last forever.
Greg
Given that plating wears to a point where it āflakesā around the holes that form , I remove the plating from the wheels as soon as that happens ; those sharp bits of nickel or chrome will certainly attack the track and loose bits of chrome flying around and getting in the works canāt be a good thing .
When the plating starts to peel , mind your fingers , it is so sharp it digs in to your skin and snaps off
leaving a nasty splinter buried in your fingers . Or even in your eye , but that hasnāt happened to me yet , but the chrome injections ? ------
In answer to the next questions , oh yes , and yes it hurt .
Trainz can be dangeruz .
Mike
Gee, I removed the plating from the treads of my Aristo streamline passenger cars with no effort on my part. A sudden rain shower cam up while I was running those cars. The shower didnāt last more then a minute or two. When I went to put the cars away, the plating was gone from the wheel treads.
I have no Aristo stuff , but may have an odd set or two of Aristo wheels which I bought cheap in a sale because they were cheeeeeep and I may find a use for them when scratch building . So presumably , I can just wash the chrome off .
Mike
No, I think it was the combination of running, water and electrical pick ups on the cars caused the plating to deplateā¦kinda like reverse electroplating.
Some poor quality plating will peep/flake off right away, certain runs of Aristo products are famous for this, like the GP-40.
Other brands/plating will wear off nice and evenly, like the USAT ultimate series.
Also, seems to be related to rail type, many people claim SS removes plating faster than brass.
My experience with brass was short, it did not take me long to figure it was the wrong rail type for me, but I have long experience with SS, and my wheels donāt seem to wear faster than my friends with brass rail.
Greg
My son , Martyn , believes that āParental Controlā on a computer means he controls me .
So he just pointed out that we habitually remove chrome from plastic kits by using foaming oven cleaner (our oven doesnāt foam that often , but thatās what it says on the spray can) .
The thing is , the kit makers donāt think it through when , on large scale model trucks , they chrome plate a load of bits without considering how naff it looks because itās too shiny and in any case looks bloody awful where the item has been cut from the sprue . Holy chrome , Batman .
So we get it removed with oven cleaner . Spray it , leave it in the bath for a couple of hours , shower it off and HEY !!! plain plastic . Which can now have a scale chrome finish applied .
So perhaps if we stuck all of our plated wheels in oven cleaner we could get rid of it . The wheel may fall apart , but it wouldnāt embed itself in fingers .
Just an aside .
Mike
Oven cleaner. Huh, never tried that. I was using that stuff (acid) they etch circuit boards with, to remove chrome from plastic.
David Maynard said:
Oven cleaner. Huh, never tried that. I was using that stuff (acid) they etch circuit boards with, to remove chrome from plastic.
You probably have a self-cleaning oven, just like we do. However if you really need to try it, get the Easy-Off with lemon scent. Itās easier on the nostrils.
We also have an automatic cleaned oven , the servants automatically take it in turns to clean it .
Actually , we buy oven cleaner to remove chrome . Nothing else .
Now , can someone come up with more uses for oven cleaner ? Unless of course you also have servants and thus do not know of its existence .
Mike .
My wife uses it occasionally if the stainless steel sink gets really bad. She has also cleaned cast iron she has bought for cooking if they are really rusty and grody.
Well, since I do not use the oven, I do not need to clean the oven. 