04-19-2012, 09:08 AM
Squidbait Wrote:I believe the material of the actual wheelsets will have a bearing on noise as well. Those with plated/polished nickle-silver wheels (like Kato and Atlas) will have less or at least different noise from those with steel/sintered iron wheels (Athearn, early Proto 2000).
Replacing steel wheels with n/s ones from JayBee or NWSL has improved the sound of many of my older Athearn diesels, which otherwise had a quiet drive line.
That's one of the reasons that plastic wheels were so popular when they were first introduced. I addition to being quieter than brass wheels on round-ended steel axles, the needle-point axle ends often rolled within plastic sideframes. This allowed them to roll much better than most of the older metal-on-metal offerings.
While I have metal wheels on some of my rolling stock, most have plastic wheels, which helps to keep the noise levels acceptable.
Wayne