09-22-2009, 08:51 AM
The Northwest Shortline replacement wheels are only nickle silver plating on brass, and they have been known to have the plating flake off. A better replacement wheel set for Athearn are those made by Jay Bee. They are solid nickle silver. I did a Google search on Jay Bee Bennet Enterprises, and found numerous listing of companies that carry their products including Walthers, but I didn't find a web site listing for them. I didn't look past the third page, so it may have been farther down, or they may just not bother with a web page. Interestingly, I bought all of the remaining sets of Jay Bee wheels from the "Original Whistle Stop" in Pasadena a few years ago, and was told that Jay Bee had gone out of business and that those wheel sets in stock were the last that the "OWS" would be able to get. I presumed that the guy I was talking to knew what he was talking about until I went to the National Train Show at the NMRA Convention in 2008 in Anaheim and actually met the folks who run Jay Bee Enterprises. Like so many model railroad manufacturers Jay Bee is a small family run company that makes a high quality product.