# Infos on M/T trucks please...



## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

Most of my rolling stock are used items (from Ebay),mostly Rivarossi Heavyweights and a bunch of cattle cars of different brands that are all equipped with Rapido couplers.I've tried replacing the couplers on one of them and it's a real pain with my 61 year old eyesight.And since some trucks do show some wear,I'm thinking of replacing them all with pre-assembled M/T trucks.

Are these worthed it?Can I expect troublefree operation with these trucks?I visited Micro-Trains website and I've found what may be a flaw...all the trucks shown have black wheels.Are these plastic or blackened metal wheels?Nowhere on the site I could find this info.If I buy these,do I need to buy separate axle sets to have metal wheels?And even with their separate axle sets,they don't say if they're metal or plastic.

Their product may be very good but their infos are lacking.


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## Carl (Feb 19, 2012)

Lets not jump to quickly into the Micro-Train change out. First, it will cost money and secondly, the Rapido couplers are not bad, they just have a slight problem coming uncoupled when pulling a number of cars. You might consider changing out to Micro-Train on those cars where you have a coup;ling/uncoupling problem.

Yes, the Micro-Train black plastic, which can be easily weathered using some acrylic paints a combination of Raw Umber, Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna & Burnt Umber. 

If you want metal wheels, you can buy those from a number of suppliers and hobby shops. All you will need to do is match the metal wheels (which come with a metal axle) to the type of trucks (the thing that holds the axles) you have. Take a look at Fifer Hobby's webs site for wheels, might give you an idea of what your may need.


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## videobruce (Jun 15, 2011)

> the Rapido couplers are not bad


Compared to what? Rapido are terrible, they would still be terrible for HO scale. Compare the cost of a MT car, then compare that cost with all the other less expensive brands, then add the cost of a MT truck and you are around the MT price. Heck, you can get oddball cars for around $5. Discard the crap trucks and replace with MT. 

I replaced all my Atlas, Concor & others trucks with MT 15 years ago at $4 each. It was well worth it. I believe they are under $5 now.


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## Brakeman Jake (Mar 8, 2009)

There are three reasons for the switch I'm planning.First to have coupler standards throughout my rolling stock.Presently I have different types,mostly Rapido.

Then replacing couplers alone in N scale is a nightmare on most cars so I thought of replacing the whole truck would be the solution.

Then I want metal wheels...but...M/T trucks come with plastic wheels.

For the ones that can be bought in bulk packs it's not so bad but many are only sold in two pair packs.I have about sixty cars to retrofit...that adds up pretty quick.


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## videobruce (Jun 15, 2011)

> Then replacing couplers alone in N scale is a nightmare on most cars so I thought of replacing the whole truck would be the solution.


Amen. I don't have the patient to replace each and every car with body mounted couplers. The cost difference isn't any issue compared to the aggravation.
I wouldn't want metal wheels though, ones I had seemed to pickup up more dirt & grime.


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## pmcgurin (Sep 7, 2010)

I have at least a couple of hundred freight cars, and many are Micro Trains cars. On most of the rest I have used Micro Trains trucks. I changed a lot of the freight cars to Kato couplers, an early design of Kato, because they work and are cheap.

I have some Atlas lighted passenger cars, probably from the 60s or 70s. Replacing the truck might require a change or loss of the pickup, so I used Kato couplers on these to keep the same truck with its power pickup.


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## Wooky_Choo_Bacca (Nov 13, 2020)

When I started out on my railroad I got the Kato Silver Streak Zephyr, it has metal wheels for the light kits I added to the cars. Then I went on a quest of freighters, box cars and fuel tankers with a set of 4 covered hoppers with the logo of a company I used to work for (never expected THAT). Some of these had Rapido couplers and others wouldn't roll far for whatever reason, I found an ebay vendor who sold M/T trucks with knuckles. I figure that unless I'm going to be lighting a car plastic wheels will do fine, I know others like the sounds of metal wheels on metal track better


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## Mixed Freight (Aug 31, 2019)

8 year-old+ thread............ but still timeless.

When you see a prototypical 4-engine lashup pulling a string of of 70~80 or 100 freight cars around an N-Trak modular layout, the freight cars all have one thing in common............. MTL trucks & couplers.

The only drawback to the plastic MTL wheels is that they do tend to pick up crud faster than metal wheels. Outside of that, you can take any old N-scale car (there have been some very nice ones made over the years that are no longer available new), properly weight them, put MTL trucks and couplers on them, and you have a super-nice car to add to your rolling stock that is every bit as good as a brand new MTL car. Probably around 25% (or more) of my N-scale rolling stock is made up of such cars.

Paul.


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## Wooky_Choo_Bacca (Nov 13, 2020)

OOPS I did it agin LOL, didn't check da date, oh well it happens


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

Brakeman Jake said:


> Most of my rolling stock are used items (from Ebay),mostly Rivarossi Heavyweights and a bunch of cattle cars of different brands that are all equipped with Rapido couplers.I've tried replacing the couplers on one of them and it's a real pain with my 61 year old eyesight.And since some trucks do show some wear,I'm thinking of replacing them all with pre-assembled M/T trucks.
> 
> Are these worth it? Can I expect trouble free operation with these trucks? I visited Micro-Trains website and I've found what may be a flaw...all the trucks shown have black wheels. Are these plastic or blackened metal wheels? Nowhere on the site I could find this info. If I buy these, do I need to buy separate axle sets to have metal wheels? And even with their separate axle sets, they don't say if they're metal or plastic.
> 
> Their product may be very good but their info is lacking.



Brakeman Jake;

Micro-Trains trucks are well-made, nicely detailed, and very free-rolling. While there's no such thing as truly trouble free operation on any model railroad, they are very good trucks, and work quite well. They do come with plastic wheels in them. Perfectly round, free-rolling, and properly-gauged, plastic wheels, but plastic none the less.
Micro-Trains does make replacement wheelsets in both plastic and metal. The new metal M-T wheelsets have metal wheels on a plastic axle. Other brands of after-market metal wheelsets , like Intermountain, and Fox Valley Models, have metal wheels on metal axles. The axles of the Micro-Trains metal wheelsets are designed to fit M-T truck frames naturally. So are some of the others, but there are slightly different axle lengths available in order to fit various brands of trucks. The package lists the brands of trucks that the wheelsets are designed to fit. The difference in axle lengths is tiny, a few hundredths of an inch. I've been able to gently pinch together, or spread the truck frames to fit the "wrong" axles.

So, yes unfortunately, if you want metal wheels in a Micro-Trains truck, then you do have to buy the metal wheels separately, and install them. Expensive bummer, but true. In HO-scale, Micro-Trains equivalent, Kadee, makes all-metal trucks. No such luck in N-scale. I wish somebody did offer all-metal trucks in N-scale, but nobody does.

You can leave the existing trucks, with their metal wheels, on the cars, cut the rapido coupler off the truck and body-mount Micro-Trains couplers. 
A pain to do, but I'm 72 and I have done it. I've also assembled both N-scale and Z-scale Micro-Trains couplers, but I won't claim it was fun! 
I did use the special tools from Kadee/Micro-Trains, and an optivisor. The file below "Tips for handling small parts" lists the tools used, and some other handy info.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do;

Traction Fan


Traction Fan 🙂


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## rrjim1 (Mar 12, 2015)

Just bite the bullet and replace all the truck with MT. If you want metal wheelsets use MT and you won't have to worry about axle length. I have a 50 car ore train and tried everything to keep from have derailments, draw bars, couplers, and wheelsets. I finally replaced all the truck with MT and guess what no more derailmants. .


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