HO Model Trains - Metal Wheels

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For years all model HO cars came with plastic wheels and many still do. There cheap to manufacture and roll fine on a layout. Then why change?

There are a few reasons for the change over. The obvious reason is they are prototypical of the real thing. They make a clear metal to metal sound along with the clickety clack as they passover the track divisions.

The real reason from a hobbyist point of view is the problem of dirty tracks. The plastic peals off as it rolls around the track and leaves a black residual stain on the track. You end up constantly cleaning the track. This becomes intolerable over time.

The one drawback is some of the first metal wheels axles were not made of a nonconductive material. This became a real problem when you tried to put metal wheel sets into a metal sprung truck. Instant short! Now the metal wheels come with either a carbon composite or epoxy graphite resin axel.

The metal wheel has also improved the problems with switch points and crossovers. The plastic would easily get chipped or scared which would cause problems at switches. The metal wheel has eliminated that kind of problem to some extent. A good switch needs to be one that closes the switch point everytime.

One issue that is still a irritating problem is the pony and trailing truck wheels on brass steam engines. They come with steel axles which can cause annoying shorts. If one of the wheels touches the cylinders or cab frame it will cause a short. If the axles were made of a noncunductive material problem solved. Using a set of freight car wheels is a shot in the dark. The trailing truck wheels come in varying sizes as sometimes does the pony trucks. Unless you are really good with a mini-lathe and can create your own composite axles you have an annoying dilemma. The only alternative is to try and adjust the pony trucks so they sit farther away from the cylinders or in both cases you paint a clear epoxy onto the cylinders and cab where the short occurs. There really isn't anything you can do with the trailing trucks except to apply some form of nonconductive material to the cab that is all but invisible to the naked eye.

There are some trucks for freight cars that you cannot replace the plastic wheels. You have to replace the whole truck. These are the trucks that have the axle come through the truck frame. You can actually see the axle turn as the wheels roll down the track. I find this unfortunate because I have several sets of these type of trucks.

You may find the replacement process a bit expensive if you have a great number of cars. Your best bet is to surf the WEB for discounted wheels. I primarily use Proto 2000 wheels because I can get them cheaper than Kadee and A-line. I am not sure of Intermountain since I have never used them except for what comes on their freight cars. Under the circumstances your best bet is to surf the WEB and ask your friends what and where the best deals are.