Perhaps because in their heyday they were pretty much the only game in town;
they were nicely sprung back when most of us
model railroaders preferred sprung trucks to older clunky equalized-only ones
(and I don't intend to get into a discussion about
whether sprung car trucks really add anything to operation). I picked up a
pair of the Rex trucks from an estate Don Heimburger
was disposing of at Duluth, just for nostalgia; they seem all right, but I
shan't regret never getting any more of them. I'd guess
years ago those were the only alternatives--until the Ace trucks appeared--for
scale S trucks.
>From recurring discussions over the years, zamac crumbling apparently comes
>from dies contaminated with lead in casting, usually
because the manufacturer was re-using zamac scrap--a false economy. I have
Auel castings in O scale that are older than I am, from
the 1930's, that are still sound with no evidence of decay.
The SHS trucks are entirely satisfactory--perhaps because of the celcon inserts
in the metal sideframes--and I understand the rationale for the
double-insulated wheelsets, although longstanding prejudice still prefers
one-side only. My only reservation is that the prototype pattern is not the
most common "Bettendorf" but more the primary PRR kind. I've discovered that
earlier SHS trucks tend to bow in and need a spring plank added; later design
corrected this. Perhaps the Andrews leaf spring trucks I found are some of
Don's pre-SHS offerings.
Jace Kahn
General Manager
Ceres & Canisteo RR Co./Champlain County Traction Co.
> At one time I would say that the NE trucks were the most popular in S
> scale. But I think their time has passed some years ago. I bought my
> first pair back in about 62 so that makes them nearly 50 years old.
> This brings up an interesting point in that I've never heard of them
> crumbling like our Alco Models gear boxes or Enhorning passenger car
> trucks, so whoever actually made the castings used a good clean mix of
> product.
>
> Probably the best rolling and detailed trucks made in metal are the SHS
> trucks. In plastic we have AM, DesPlains and the former Pacific Rail who all
> make several versions. I don't think even the Ace trucks are ever going to
> be remade except for the RB versions. All these trucks rolled better than the
> NE/Kinsman trucks and look just as good.
>
> If I'm not mistaken Don Thompson's Trainstuff made copies of the NE
> trucks for awhile.
>
> Bob Werre
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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