todsmods Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 Hi im starting a scratchbuilt locomotive and i need 3 axle trucks i was looking at the the NSWL 3 axle trucks for the project as aristocraft ones are not available anymore are these trucks any good this is a picture of the locomotive im building Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 Will you be building in 1:29 or 1:32 scale? Personally I'm a fan of USA trucks.w/ traction tires. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todsmods Posted September 8, 2016 Author Share Posted September 8, 2016 1/32 scale Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted September 8, 2016 Share Posted September 8, 2016 Yeah those 1:29 USA drives would be a bit big. The truck frames in your picture look almost like the SD40-2 Flexi-Coil design. Too bad you can't get ahold of some MTH 3 axle trucks with all metal gears. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todsmods Posted September 8, 2016 Author Share Posted September 8, 2016 I also am happy to go to 1/29 if i have to ive used the usa trains motor blocks before and they do run smoother than Aristocraft im going to laser cut my own truck side frames any one know a good place to get the usa 3 axle trucks from i run minimum 20ft curves on my railway and would fix the 3rd pivoting axle solid. the axle spacing I need from center to center of the two outer axles is 145mm or close to +-5mm i think the trucks im after are on the SD40 -2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean Posted September 9, 2016 Share Posted September 9, 2016 Easy Here is a link for USA trains http://www.charlesro.com/sd70parts.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry B44 Posted September 9, 2016 Share Posted September 9, 2016 I put some USA blocks on a Great Trains F7 and they look okay. Well, to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todsmods Posted September 10, 2016 Author Share Posted September 10, 2016 Ok thanks sean ive just added 2 of these to my cart to easy with charles ro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todsmods Posted September 10, 2016 Author Share Posted September 10, 2016 Can anyone tell me the axle spacing of the usa trains 3 axle trucks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted September 13, 2016 Share Posted September 13, 2016 Yeah...well no..shit as I had all that wrote down and tossed it I guess. The PA trucks have the longest wheelbase...The SD70's have the biggest wheels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerry B44 Posted September 14, 2016 Share Posted September 14, 2016 Large scale loco block measurements here, not sure it has what you want. http://gold.mylargescale.com/scottychaos/MLS-kitbashing-guide.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 I was out in the shed running trains and I forgot to measure stuff. I hoped someone else did. That chart Jerry is blank for the 3 axle USA trucks. I'll try again tomorrow. I have the SD40-2 and the SD70MAC anyways. No PA's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todsmods Posted September 15, 2016 Author Share Posted September 15, 2016 Ok thanks guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted September 15, 2016 Share Posted September 15, 2016 It looks to me like the USA SD70MAC trucks outside axles are about 5 5/8" centers? I measured the sideframes. It appears to me now that they are evenly spaced although I thought they weren't ( 2 13/16" centers). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbrown7713 Posted September 19, 2016 Share Posted September 19, 2016 Tod, the NWSL 3 axle trucks are the ones that I used on my E8 and they work very smooth. The ratio is 25:1, so they will run smoothly at slow speeds, I like them and they are 1:32 for an E8. The spacing of the outside axles is 5.25 inches. Bob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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