14.4mm dia wheels

Information on sources for hard to find or unusual items.
PeteScR

14.4mm dia wheels

Postby PeteScR » Thu May 18, 2017 10:49 pm

Anyone know who stocks 14.4mm diameter P4 wheels suitable for diesel locos?
I know Ultrascale do but 8 months is a bit long to wait.

Pete

User avatar
jim s-w
Posts: 2186
Joined: Wed Jul 30, 2008 5:56 pm

Re: 14.4mm dia wheels

Postby jim s-w » Fri May 19, 2017 8:46 am

Gibson does 14.6. Suitable for 45s, 47s, 58s, 86 etc.
Jim Smith-Wright

http://www.p4newstreet.com

Over thinking often leads to under doing!

PeteScR

Re: 14.4mm dia wheels

Postby PeteScR » Fri May 19, 2017 10:55 am

Thanks Jim, have you tried them? Any good? I hear mixed reports of the Gibson wheels.
Its for a Class 68 that I am hoping to convert to P4

garethashenden
Posts: 405
Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2015 9:41 pm

Re: 14.4mm dia wheels

Postby garethashenden » Fri May 19, 2017 4:30 pm

PeteScR wrote:Thanks Jim, have you tried them? Any good? I hear mixed reports of the Gibson wheels.
Its for a Class 68 that I am hoping to convert to P4


Gibson wheels are good on the whole. However, you can mount them on the axles maybe twice. Ideally they should be put on the axles once and left alone. With steam locomotives the quartering isn't set for you the way it is with Romford wheels. That's a issue for some people. Gibson has the largest selection of wheels that I'm aware of, they're affordable and always in stock.

User avatar
grovenor-2685
Forum Team
Posts: 3918
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2008 8:02 pm

Re: 14.4mm dia wheels

Postby grovenor-2685 » Fri May 19, 2017 9:26 pm

The *Steam era" wheels from Branchlines are an alternative, either the coach wheels or the ones with stub axles specially for converting diesels which use stub axle designs such as the Bachmann LMS twins. I don't know the bogie design for the class 68 so you will need to check the existing wheels first.
Regards
Regards
Keith
Grovenor Sidings

User avatar
ianpenberth
Posts: 117
Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2010 6:25 pm

Re: 14.4mm dia wheels

Postby ianpenberth » Fri May 26, 2017 11:34 am

jim s-w wrote:Gibson does 14.6. Suitable for 45s, 47s, 58s, 86 etc.


Pete,
I've used these quite successfully on some of my sprung diesels.

There are 60 of them (and four 12mm ones) rolling in close formation here.

Regards
Ian
PenBits Model Railways - Diesel bogie springing and detailing

Terry Bendall
Forum Team
Posts: 2420
Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:46 am

Re: 14.4mm dia wheels

Postby Terry Bendall » Fri Sep 25, 2020 7:41 pm

There will probable be many users of the Black Beetle Wheels as sold by Brabnchlines. These are solid nickel silver wheels that are made by a supplier in Australia and distributed by Branchlines. The nominal 14mm diameter size, intended for use on coaches, is used by many of the diesel fraternity as an easy and cheap way of re-wheeling diesel outline models. The wheels are generally of good quality and sizes other than 14 mm are available

Brian Osbourne rang me this afternoon to say that his stocks of the 14mm size are getting low and he is trying to decide if it is worth while putting in a new order. His supplier also wants to know what the demand is likely to be. I said I would put a post on here as a way of judging the demand and let Brian know.

My view is that as long as people want 14mm diameter wheels for coaches or for converting diesel outline models there is likely to be a continuing demand and I cannot see sales being any less than they have been but comments would be welcome. It is probably useful to all those who use this item if we do what we can to ensure a continuing supply.

Terry Bendall

shipbadger
Posts: 163
Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2008 3:00 pm

Re: 14.4mm dia wheels

Postby shipbadger » Sat Sep 26, 2020 8:03 am

Branchlines/Steam Era wheels have been my first choice wheels for stock and loco/DMU/EMU conversions for some years. If available they will continue to be. I've done 10 or more DMU conversions for friends in the last 12 months and with the arrival of the the new Bachmann DMU and hopefully Bulleid coaches soon there are more to come, plus all those Hornby Maunsells still in their boxes. I've also used them for my British HO stock but made use of the special order service that the manufacturer offered combining wheels and axle lengths from amongst those in the catalogue.

Terry Bendall
Forum Team
Posts: 2420
Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:46 am

Re: 14.4mm dia wheels - continuing the supply

Postby Terry Bendall » Tue Sep 29, 2020 2:08 pm

I am bumping this up again with a modified title since not many have responded so far. Perhaps it got missed in the excitement of the virtual Saleforum. :)

This could be one of those use it or loose it occasions so if you have an interest in these wheels please respond.

Terry Bendall

User avatar
ianpenberth
Posts: 117
Joined: Wed Dec 29, 2010 6:25 pm

Re: 14.4mm dia wheels

Postby ianpenberth » Tue Sep 29, 2020 3:04 pm

Hi Terry. Thanks for flagging this up again.

It would be a great shame to lose these wheels. The 14mm ones are my 'goto' solution for 3'7" diesel conversions (but see below for a caveat), and a 'true' 3'6" coach wheel for MkIs too.

There is the side issue of insulated vs live (I understand that, in recent times, the manufacturer has preferred to make both sides insulated to reduce his component count): it's very handy to have one of each for instant 'American' (for want of a better word) style pickup - and the insulated ones are tricky to 'short out' for that purpose.

Cheers,
Ian
PenBits Model Railways - Diesel bogie springing and detailing

Jeremy Good
Posts: 279
Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2010 10:36 pm

Re: 14.4mm dia wheels

Postby Jeremy Good » Tue Sep 29, 2020 4:06 pm

Terry,

Like Ian these have been my preferred wheels both for coaches and for diesel loco conversions.

The switch to fully insulated wheels rather than live one-side has made live pick up from the bogies more difficult - so far I've had to liberate the older wheels from coach bogies and replace them but I'm running out now...!

It'd be a shame to lose this supply as they are a good product that gives reliable running.

Jeremy

User avatar
Richard S
Posts: 33
Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 1:25 pm

Re: 14.4mm dia wheels

Postby Richard S » Wed Sep 30, 2020 10:15 am

Another expression of interest for these wheels.

User avatar
Ian@Exton
Posts: 88
Joined: Sun Feb 20, 2011 10:12 pm

Re: 14.4mm dia wheels

Postby Ian@Exton » Wed Sep 30, 2020 2:49 pm

I too have used these wheels and would expect to do so again in the future as they seem to be of good quality and run true.

I would have thought that Brian might reasonably expect demand to continue at previous levels.

Ian

Steve Carter
Posts: 643
Joined: Tue Nov 11, 2008 6:51 pm

Re: 14.4mm dia wheels

Postby Steve Carter » Wed Sep 30, 2020 3:59 pm

My choice as well.
Hopefully Brian will be able to supply them in the future.
Steve
Steve Carter

Tony Wilkins
Posts: 814
Joined: Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:57 pm

Re: 14.4mm dia wheels

Postby Tony Wilkins » Wed Sep 30, 2020 6:15 pm

I have used them for several DMU conversions and they work very well, indeed I will been looking at purchasing some more in the not too distant future and probably would have done so at Scaleforum had it taken place.
Regards
Tony.
Inspiration from the past. Dreams for the future.

Terry Bendall
Forum Team
Posts: 2420
Joined: Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:46 am

Re: 14.4mm dia wheels

Postby Terry Bendall » Thu Oct 01, 2020 10:01 am

Thanks to those who have responded. The good news is that Brian Osbourne rang me yesterday to ask about the response and said that since he was being asked by his supplier for a reply, has decided to place an order for more stock. So it looks like we will be able to buy these useful products in the future.

Terry Bendall


Return to “Where to Find?”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: ClaudeBot and 0 guests