Reboxx Replacement Wheelsets for Broadway N&W Hoppers
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golden1014
Tom, All,
Thanks much for following up on the Reboxx wheelsets. As I mentioned to you off-line, John Burr at Reboxx contacted me and asked if I'd send him some of the Broadway trucks so he could do some accurate roll testing. He seemed like quite the gentleman, so I happy to help. Hopefully he'll have the answer for everyone at PMS. FYI, I'm sold on the Reboxx wheelsets as replacements for all my rolling stock. The prorotypical appearance of the code 88 wheelsets is very nice and they operate very reliably on good HO track. Plus, the different axle lengths--which allow you to get the right axle length for different brands of trucks--eliminates most unwanted sideways motion. The problem is that Reboox wheelsets are pretty darn expensive, so my replacement program for 125 cars is proceeding rather slowly! The best price I've found is through mail order at MB Klein, which has them for something like $7.99/12 wheelsets. See y'all at Naperville! John Golden O'Fallon, IL ____________ Message: 6 Date: Sun, 09 Oct 2005 01:48:56 -0400 From: "Thomas M. Olsen" <tmolsen@UDel.Edu> Subject: Re: Reboxx Replacement Wheelsets for Broadway N&W Hoppers Bryan, John and List members, Saturday afternoon I attended the Great Scale Train Show at Timonium Maryland. While there, I was able to speak with the folks at Reboxx. Here are some answers that touch on the axle data for BLI N&W H2a Hoppers and J.P.'s new coupler. 1st the coupler: When I broached the coupler issue with J.P., he said that there had not been a problem in getting anything produced in China, but that the reason he has not pursued it recently had to do with the very severe illness that he had last fall and spring. This coupled (no pun intended!) with a large back log of other business has pushed the coupler to the back burner. We must remember that trains is not his primary business, but a part of what he does. He intends to return to the coupler issue soon. He has been following the Sergent coupler thread that has been going on on this list. His take on these couplers is that they look very good compared to the competition, but the ability to uncouple them at a distance and the fact that unlike the tried and true Kadee's, they do not center. Also,the requirement that someone has to open the knuckle if found to be closed. He also thought that the Kadee has the edge because the knuckles need not be open when making the coupling which is of great value when making up trains and switching. His contention was that there really is no substitute from an operational aspect, there is no substitute for the present Kadee couplers unless these issues could be solved to the point where reliability was not an issue. In regard to the Reboxx wheel sets for Broadway N&W hoppers: I spoke with John and gave him one of the trucks from one of the N&W hoppers from home. He first tested the as-is truck on the roll incline tester to see how well they operated. He said that they rolled quite well considering they were stock items. Then he popped the wheel set out and measured it to see what the axle length was. After doing so, his conclusion was that the WS10975 wheel set with an axle length of 24.77mm was the most likely candidate to replace the BLI wheel sets. He felt that the BLI truck would not stand up well to the little coring tool and to use one to clear the journal boxes, it may cause the wheel sets to be a bit sloppy. So, the upshot of this is for now, you could use the WS10975 wheel sets, but he would not recommend wholesale changes right away, that a period of experimentation was called for to determine that these is the most accurate axle length for these trucks. The WS10975 wheel sets come packaged 12 wheel sets to the package. Regards, Tom Olsen 7 Boundary Road, West Branch Newark, Delaware, 19711-7479 John Golden wrote: Guys, John Golden O'Fallon, IL http://www.pbase.com/golden1014
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