03-22-2010, 09:02 AM
Tom Wrote:Who makes those trucks? Tahoe Model Works?
Wow! Sharp eyes, Tom.
Yes, the trucks for this caboose are from Tahoe Model Works - I picked up a couple pair last year when I visited English's Model Railroad Supply (along with a set of Dalman Two-Level freight trucks). They are nicely done and the leaf spring detail is moulded right into the sideframe.I'll be using the same trucks on a couple of my yet-to-be-built scratchbuilt cabooses (coming soon, I hope), along with some from TrueLine Trains, as shown below:
...and various styles (Bettendorf and Andrews) of Kadee trucks, with leaf spring detail from Precision Scale:
The PSC leaf springs are phosphor bronze, and often "take a set" in a too-compressed mode during installation. They're meant to replace the Kadee coil springs, but I've found that once installed, they need to be expanded by the judicious use of a twisting motion applied with the tip of an X-Acto #11 blade.
I then re-install the Kadee coil springs, which help to keep the leaf ones in place (if you look closely, you can see them in the photo above). It also helps if you ballast the cars fairly generously - I like about 6 or 7 ounces.Wayne