Last week while at my LHS picking up some utility poles,I got to talking to a couple of the employees about metal sets.After some discussion one of the showed me some metal wheel sets by Branchline.He told me that he used them and liked them. They are all black including the treads and have smooth backs. I asked about installing them and he said they would drop right into my Athearn trucks.
Also the price was right-24 axles for $9.00. I got 2 bags to start with and when I got them home I put a light rust wash on them. They are really free rolling. I did find one issue with them-the axles are made of a soft plastic like material and noticed that a couple of them had a bow in them which caused the wheels to wobble.I went and got another bag because I didn't have enough to go all my freight cars and also to replace any that wobbled. This is only a minor thing,but all in all I glad I made the switch.They work good and have had not problems.
Just thought I would share this with everyone.
Bob

I'm not familiar with the Branchline wheelsets, but the price is certainly right.

I do like the InterMountain wheelsets - non-magnetic metal wheels and axles. My favorite truck-wheelset combo is Atlas. But the width of the Atlas wheelsets makes them a poor replacement in other brands of trucks. Too narow and their is too much slop.

Gary-I re-checked the axles and they are rigid plastic and they are also insulated. No noticeable slop either. I was not familiar with the brand either,but as I said the price was right.
Bob

As with most people, I have found metal wheelsets to make a difference in rolling quality. But, I don't see the advantage as great enough to warrant replacing plastic wheels that work fine. So, I just replace those on cars that are problematic. The metal wheels also add a little weight down low, and that helps with underweight cars where it is difficult to add more weight (like flat cars). I think I have tried Bachmann, Proto 2000, and Atlas, but not yet Branchline. I prefer the ones that have a solid metal axle and individual insulated wheels. I think the Atlas ones have metal wheels and bearings, and they press into a plastic axle. I have found some atlas ones to be narrow in gauge right out of the package, and the plastic axle makes adjusting the gauge a little more difficult. Nonmagnetic is important though if you use permanent kadee uncoupling magnets (I don't).

Kevin-you make some good points. In my case with only 14 cars on my roster,$9 for 24 axles seemed reasonable.
Sure there are probably better wheel sets out there,but for now they fill the need.
Bob

foulrift Wrote:Kevin-you make some good points. In my case with only 14 cars on my roster,$9 for 24 axles seemed reasonable.
Sure there are probably better wheel sets out there,but for now they fill the need.
Bob

Yep, they will suit you fine. Small rosters (like yours and mine) are relatively easy and cheap to upgrade, but if I had a large roster like Dr. Wayne, I don't suppose I would ever get around to upgrading them all!

I've been converting to metal wheels only as I upgrade my rolling stock, most recently. But before that I began converting because I was part of a modular club. I was in the collecting rolling stock mode, and meeting regularly with guys who run long trains around a modular layout. The research they had done showed that plastic wheels gathered more 'gunk' (that's the technical term, I believe) than metal wheels. The additional weight didn't hurt either, but as Kevin alluded to, it's negligible.

The free-rolling metal wheels (combined with a quick reaming by 'The Tool') made longer trains possible. I had converted a passenger train to metal wheels & truck-mounted kadees and it operated flawlessly without any additional weight, backing down around a wye curve and through a yard ladder on the club layout.

On my own timesaver layout I established a rule that all equipment to be run on the layout MUST have metal wheels, so as not to bring the gunk from the plastic wheels onto the track. But I generally was running less than a dozen cars in total. On the club layout you didn't have to have metal wheels, but it was recommended. I made it a mostly mandatory practice for my home layout in order to minimize track cleaning.

If your layout is indoors in a clean, dust free environment, you may not have as much an issue with dirty track and wheels. But if you model in a garage or out in public as on a modular setup, it's much more an issue and I believe the metal wheels make a difference there. Plus, I like the way they sound. The clickety-clacks are more pronounced.

Galen