# Performance difference between 33" & 36" wheels ?



## BrokeCurmudgeon (Feb 8, 2016)

I am having some derailment troubles with a few of my rolling stock as they transverse Kato Turnouts. I am wondering if the size of the wheels may be the reason. I cannot readily tell the difference between 33" and 36" wheels. as my vision is poor. Any comments and or suggestion would be greatly appreciated!


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

I'm just guessing, but I doubt wheel size would make a difference between derailing or not ..I would probably first check to make sure the trucks swivel easily, with one being maybe a quarter turn 'looser' than the other, to allow for possible height changes between one side of the track to the other


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## Bwells (Mar 30, 2014)

Normally, 33" is for freight and 36" is for passenger, sort of. Possibly the flanges are to large for the code of rail you are using.


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## santafealltheway (Nov 27, 2012)

Like bwells said, The flange is probably too large.

I've had good luck with hitting the flange with a dremmel on some of my old tyco wheels.
Just chuck up a sanding drum, and hit the wheels while they're still in the truck, they'll spin around as they get filed down.

Not sure if that'll work on the super tiny N scale stuff but might be worth a try


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Wheel & track gauge*



BrokeCurmudgeon said:


> I am having some derailment troubles with a few of my rolling stock as they transverse Kato Turnouts. I am wondering if the size of the wheels may be the reason. I cannot readily tell the difference between 33" and 36" wheels. as my vision is poor. Any comments and or suggestion would be greatly appreciated!


 BrokeCurmudgeon;

First, I love your screen name! I am another crumudgeon (68) and living on Social Security, plus a very, very, modest pension. So I am frequently broke; or close to it. I don't have experience with Kato turnouts, because I build my own. However, Kato's quality is excellent across their entire product line, so I doubt the turnout is causing your derailments. I certainly wouldn't rule it out, it just seems unlikely. Even more unlikely is the idea that the tiny difference in diameter between scale 33" and 36" wheels is the cause. You said you had the problem on "some of your equipment." That indicates a problem in those particular cars, rather than the Kato turnout, assuming your other equipment traverses the same turnout without derailing.The most likely cause, in my opinion, is that the distance between the two wheels on the same axle, (called the wheel gauge) is out of adjustment. You can, and definitely should, buy an NMRA (National Model Railroad Association) standards gauge tool, and use it to check the gauge adjustment of every wheelset, (a wheelset is composed of one axle with two wheels on it) and every inch of track on your railroad. Gage is critical, and has caused more derailments than anything else. The same NMRA gage can also check the flange depth that several others have mentioned. Personally, unless you have some 30+ year old wheels on your cars, I doubt that flange depth is the cause; but it certainly can't hurt to check this as well.
You can buy an NMRA gage at www.walthers.com or at your local train store, if you have one. On the Walthers site, look under "tools." The tool comes with an illustrated instruction sheet, but if you want to see, and read, about how it is used on turnouts, check out two of my earlier posts in the "General Model Train Discussion" section of this forum. Look back a page, or two, for the titles "Improving Atlas Turnouts" and "How I scratch build turnouts" by Traction Fan. These articles have several clear, close-up, photos of the NMRA gage being used to check several different adjustments. Both these articles, and a third short supplement to the "Improving Atlas turnouts" one titled "Frog Options" have lots of info on what problems cause derailments at turnouts, and how to fix them. Even though you are not using Atlas brand turnouts, or scratch building your own, I think you might find some info that could help you.

Regards;

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:

Ps. I understand about the poor vision. "Living there, have that!" I find a tool called an "Optivisor", made by Doneigan Optical Co., to be a big help when trying to see some of this tiny stuff. If you don't have one, they are available through the Walthers link above. Again, look under tools.


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## shaygetz (Sep 23, 2007)

In N scale...nothing. Its simply for scale purity. On my HO models (I do both) it is noticeable, but only to those who look for such things...


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## BrokeCurmudgeon (Feb 8, 2016)

Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to check the wheel tolerances. I think that N Scale is not for the old. Too much invested now to change.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*How old is "old?" and how small is small?*



BrokeCurmudgeon said:


> Thanks for the suggestions. I am going to check the wheel tolerances. I think that N Scale is not for the old. Too much invested now to change.


 BrokeCurmudgeon:

Scale choice, like just about everything else in this hobby, is a matter of personal preference, and what you have become used to. Like many model railroaders, I started out with O-27 tinplate, then switched to HO-scale, and later to N-scale. I'm 68 years old and have all the common age related stuff. Poor eyesight, not so hot hearing, fading memory, shakes, pains, canes, braces, arthritis, etc. After being in N-scale for decades, I have become so used to it that HO-scale models seem huge, when once they were "normal size" and N-scale models were "tiny."
We put so much of our time and energy (both of which are running out faster the older we get!) into our hobby; that it makes sense to get all the fun out of it you can. If, for you, that means changing scales, I say do it! Yes you will loose some money trying to sell off you N-scale stuff, but it might be worth it to get more enjoyment from your hobby time. You might want to think about it and maybe build a boxcar, or structure in a couple of larger scales, just to see how you like it.
Layout space can be adapted, scale/gauge combinations can be manipulated. Many have switched from HO-scale standard gauge up to S-scale or O-scale narrow gauge for example. By going to a less track, point to point layout, several have found that they could fit a larger scale into practically the same space as a smaller one. My own N-scale "bookshelf layout with its 16" min. radius curves could be adapted to HOn-2-1/2 or HOn-3 pretty easily. I like main line heavyweight passenger trains pulled by electric locomotives, so I don't plan such a scale change; but It would fit.

Good luck, and have fun! In the end, that's all that matters!

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:


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