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Intermountain ball bearing wheel sets and Wathers passenger trucks General discussion
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Regular poster 403 posts towazy Regular poster 403 posts
towazy

I replaced a number of 1970s era brass passenger car trucks with Walthers six axle trucks recently to improve operational quality. While the Walthers trucks are a vast improvement over the the ones they replaced, I’m still not getting the rolling quality I’m truly after. They will not roll freely down a 2% grade in my helix. There is still quite a bit of drag inherent in them. 
 

I'm thinking of replacing the Walthers wheel sets with Intermountain ball bearing wheels sets, which would eliminate the friction between the axles and side frames. Has anyone done this? If so, is the performance superior to the stock version? Do they fit easily or is there modification needed? Was it an involved procedure to make the switch?  
 

Tom
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joef MRH Founder 18,640 posts
joef

Found this on other forums ...

I found this post on the Model Railroader website about these wheelsets ...

Quote:

They work quite well. I just installed them on 16 Broadway Limited Imports HO SP Daylight passenger cars. The BLI design just didn't roll well and some cars required over a 3% grade for the car to be free rolling. (The La Mesa club has a spec of 2.5% maximum to freely start rolling and continue smoothly for a car length.)

After installing the InterMountain ball bearing wheel sets, they test at 0.5% to 0.8% (excellent). Also, a 16 car train required a drawbar pull of only 1.5 oz. which is extremely low.

I did have to make a change since they have a solid axle and one insulated wheel meaning I could only pick up power on one side of the truck and had to cut off the upward protruding metal power transfer lug on the insulated side of the trucks.

Also found this on the MR site ...

Quote:

I have an Arbour models alleghany kit under construction, and the tender is a "lead sled"!!


The ball bearing wheels work extremely well, and the tender moves easily and smoothly.

Found this on the Trainorders forum ...

Quote:

I've installed them on numerous Walther's passenger cars with superb results. One of the great successes was my late 80s early 90s era Amtrak 16 car Silver Meteor. The train has 10 Amfleet II cars from Walthers that don't roll very well due to the inside bearing trucks. The other 8 cars however are heritage fleet Budd cars.

I totally rebuilt the trucks with the ball bearing wheelsets with excellent results - remember to make sure you get the insulated axles on the same side on each truck or it could short as the trucks are metal sideframes. With a pair of Kato F40PHs slightly weighted and sound equipped they have no problems moving the train across the layout.

I'm planning on installing these on the Auto Train consist cars as well. Breaking things down by pulling power.

I've found that the resistance of one Walthers car out of the box roughly equals 2-3 Walther's passenger cars with ball bearing wheels. Thats a 50% increase which is excellent. I've also got some scheduled to go on a brass caboose as well.

They can be pricey, but definitely worth it if your hauling long consist or heavy grades etc.

Sounds like they will be just what the doctor ordered to solve your rollability problem.

Joe Fugate​
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine

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towazy Regular poster 403 posts
towazy

Thanks Joe

Thanks.   Ordered…on the way.  
 

Tom
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chepp Super User 265 posts
chepp

Intermountain BB wheel sets work great

I replaced the Walthers wheels with the ball-bearing wheels on my HO Pullman heavyweight sleeper-observation and improved the rolling from a dead stop. Without: 4.7 degrees needed. With BB: 2.2 degrees.
See my MRH Journal at https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/charleys-ho-1939-socal-journal-12472209?pid=1333937494
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