Intermountain Flats hitting the shelves....

[GaryHinshaw]

I dunno  --  I'm relatively new here & didn't know where else to put it.

It's perfectly fine, and a very useful addendum to this thread.  I think the comment was tongue-in-cheek.

[Snark45]

My apologies - you're quite right. I didn't notice the smiley face until I'd already hit the "reply" button. Thanks for the info about double-posting.

HH

[bbussey]

An excellent solution. Just to clarify -- FVM trucks, or BLMA trucks?  It matters, because the bolster beams are different even though the truck side frames are identical.

[Snark45]

The voices... the voices...  They've never lied before... 

Seriously, guess I should start keeping things with their original packaging

You're right, Bryan  --  70-ton solid-bearing BLMA trucks are what I used. I believe they're the same bolster height as whatever INT applied...

I'm thinking of drilling out the INT roller-bearing truck bolsters to 1/8" so that M-T pins will fit & I can apply them to other rolling stock

Highest Regards, H

[reinhardtjh]

I dunno  --  I'm relatively new here & didn't know where else to put it.

Any suggestions? Are you "allowed" to post the same entry in different threads? I  thought it was a reasonable method of getting FVM trucks onto these beautifully detailed cars and that others might be interested...

Best Regards, Harry

Hey Harry! Sorry about that.  Actually you made a perfect post.  I copied it to a text file to save because I have a couple of these flats and one days (All Hail the Keystone) I'll get a chance to fix the roller bearing trucks.  The reasons for my post are (1) the recent redo of the sub forums here - just a fun jab. (2) with a name like"Snark" I took it that you'd understand.   (3)  I work thirds and at 1-2 AM things may seem funnier than they are.

Keep up the good work!

[bbussey]

The voices... the voices...  They've never lied before... 

Seriously, guess I should start keeping things with their original packaging

You're right, Bryan  --  70-ton solid-bearing BLMA trucks are what I used. I believe they're the same bolster height as whatever INT applied...

I'm thinking of drilling out the INT roller-bearing truck bolsters to 1/8" so that M-T pins will fit & I can apply them to other rolling stock.

Harry,

Excellent detective work, and welcome aboard.

One observation — since the BLMA truck freely rotates around the MTL bolster pin, I suspect that it isn't necessary to insure the bolster pin rotates freely around the mounting nub.  It definitely should be secured with the Philips screw regardless.  But as long as the bolster pin is level and true, truck performance should work as desired.

[Snark45]

Yeah  --  in retrospect, it might be better if the pin did NOT rotate freely around the nub. A soft press-fit would likely improve the integrity of the screw connection , yet not affect the truck’s ability to rotate. Duh.

Where the heck were you when I was doing these cars the last few nights??!

Just kidding – thanks, Bryan, for taking the time to reply.

HH

[bbussey]

Hey, you did the heavy lifting.  It's always easy to come in after the main experiment and suggest tweaks here and there.     I have six of the flats to convert, which I'll do this week if I have all the necessary BLMA trucks.

[Chris333]

So for the people that are tardy for the party    Do the BLMA trucks work, do the couplers line up?

Thanks I might as well fix these now before I forget...

[bbussey]

Other than the bolster hole diameter, the BLMA and InterMountain trucks are identical.

[Chris333]

Something doesn't jive here.

I drilled out MTL pins and mounted the BLMA trucks and they do not roll well at all. I can get a smooth roll on straight track, but the slightest finger pressure on the deck and I hear the wheels rubbing on something. And when they roll into a curve they pretty much stop. Putting on the BLMA trucks didn't lower the car that I can see and the BLMA wheels are smaller than what came on the car so if anything I should have more room. I even pulled out the brake rods and trimmed the corner on the coupler boxes, still no dice. The original trucks work fine though.

My tightest curve is 13.5"R. I can get the cars to run in a train without derailing, but obviously something is rubbing.

[bbussey]

Something doesn't jive here.

I drilled out MTL pins and mounted the BLMA trucks and they do not roll well at all. I can get a smooth roll on straight track, but the slightest finger pressure on the deck and I hear the wheels rubbing on something. And when they roll into a curve they pretty much stop. Putting on the BLMA trucks didn't lower the car that I can see and the BLMA wheels are smaller than what came on the car so if anything I should have more room. I even pulled out the brake rods and trimmed the corner on the coupler boxes, still no dice. The original trucks work fine though.

My tightest curve is 13.5"R. I can get the cars to run in a train without derailing, but obviously something is rubbing.

Out of the six I've converted, two cars that are rubbing but the other four are fine. even though 11" radius curves.  I haven't taken the time to inspect them as of yet.  I did have these changes from Harry's excellent solution:

• I didn't file the# 42 bit hole in the pins to keep it a snug fit against the existing mounting nub.
• I filed the bottom of the truck cross bolster so that it would spin more freely around the truck pin.  The height of the pin and thickness of the bolster are nearly exact, so some clearance helps with the truck spin.
• I slightly beveled the edges of the bolster hole in the truck on both sides to remove flash from the mold process and the filing process.  The trucks spin freely around the MTL pins after doing this.
• The screws probably are no longer necessary, but I reinserted them anyway and screwed them tightly.

On my two problem cars, it's one axle only on each car.  I'll probably mill or shave out the bottom of the floor slightly until the wheels spin freely.

[wcfn100]

I just got mine today.  I'm not going to worry about the trucks until I figure out how to fix the droop at the ends of the deck.  Anyone fix that yet, I haven't had a chance to look?


Jason

[Chris333]

None of mine droop, but it sorta looks that way on one end of one car. The end of the deck is plastic while the rest in metal. So maybe your ends are glued crooked?

Those plastic end pieces have injector pin marks on the bottom and maybe that is were the wheels are rubbing. I just hacked it with a Dremel by hand.


Odd because the stock wheels are .255" tall and the BLMA wheels are .248" tall. They should have gave me an extra.0035" clearance. Anyways after doing the grinding the cars roll. Though curves and all.