BLI Cryogenic Tank Cars wheel size

[peteski]

Did this cars ride on 33" or 36" wheels?

[Mark5]

The real ones have 36".

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=47511.30

[peteski]

Thanks Mark!  I should have searched first (or looked at the end stenciling), but I was in a lazy mood (or getting senile, which ever excuse works the best).    Also good thread for other upgrade info for this pretty but badly designed car.

[C855B]

Thanks Mark!  I should have searched first (or looked at the end stenciling), but I was in a lazy mood (or getting senile, which ever excuse works the best).    Also good thread for other upgrade info for this pretty but badly designed car.

Amen. Couldn't keep the things on the rails, and I have 24" minimums on the layout. Don't have time at the moment to mess with the poor tracking. The rip track queue gets that much deeper. 

[bbussey]

Swap in BLMA 100-ton trucks. It serves two purposes, proper wheels diameter and proper ride height.

[peteski]

Swap in BLMA 100-ton trucks. It serves two purposes, proper wheels diameter and proper ride height.

Atlas currently sells them?

[C855B]

Atlas currently sells them?

https://shop.atlasrr.com/p-48610-n-100-ton-asf-trucks-w-36-metal-wheels-1-pair.aspx
https://www.nscalesupply.com/ATL/ATL-9005.html
https://lombardhobby.com/atlas-n-blma-9005-asf-ride-control-100-ton-trucks-with-36-metal-wheels-1-pair/

[samusi01]

Of late, I’ve been using Tangent’s 100 ton more or less interchangeably with the BLMA product.

[peteski]

Thanks for the links.  What do the wheels Tangent uses look like?

Also, didn't the BLMA whelsets have detsailed backs?  The photo shows flat backs (like if these were FVM/Scale Trains wheels).



Hmm, the above photo was from N-Scale Supply.
Lombard has a photo with the wheels I remember.

[GaryHinshaw]

Right, the Tangent and BLMA trucks are very similar.  And despite the photo, both come with shaped inner wheel profiles.  One word of slight caution: the Tangent trucks are slightly narrower than the original BLMAs, and it turns out that FVM wheels with 0.540" axles won't roll well in them.  (The only reason I know that is because I have a stash of resistor-equipped FVMs and they wouldn't play well with the Tangent trucks I have.)  But the Tangent wheels roll fine as is.

I have no idea if any of these trucks help with the cryo tanker tracking issues.



[Curiously, the wheels in the BLMA photo look like FVM wheels.]

[bbussey]

I used BLMA trucks. Interestingly, the wheel backs are flat. The first-generation wheels must have had flat backs.

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[Sokramiketes]

I used BLMA trucks. Interestingly, the wheel backs are flat. The first-generation wheels must have had flat backs.

Huh, I thought the very first run had the scaling issue, where HO wheel profile was sized down instead of using the N scale profile sent to the factory.  Those were some *really* scale wheels!  And had the carved back face, as BLMA was trying to move forward as a betterment to FVM's wheels that were just becoming the standard. 

[bbussey]

After looking at these more closely, it appears I used FVM wheels in the BLMA trucks for some reason.  I modified these models for an NSR article, maybe I specified the wheels there.  Most likely I will swap in ESM wheels.  I like ESM or BLMA wheels on the cars with open frames because the wheel backs are visible.