10-29-2009, 06:36 AM
Believe it or not, in the old times, in Soviet Russia, trains ran on square wheels.
How do I know?
Picked up half a dozen of old (20+ years) N gauge Soviet coaches by PIKO (that German company which originally started out as the main supplier of trains in Eastern Europe)
Well, the first thing to do is a test lap on the layout....four out of six cars just failed to run on regular 9mm track. Wheels were out of gauge and on some wheels, still had bits of sprue on them. Making them effectively rather UNROUND. As I bought them as used, I really wonder whether the previous owner had had any success in running them.
Though I'd love to, I can't take a picture of them to illustrate the UNROUNDness as the camera has trouble with capturing such detail. Maybe later.
They are quite nice, though, especially given their origin, and probably a new set of wheels will make them run again without trouble. And someday when I have the courage I'll repaint them to look like this http://www.rvm-electro.ru/urengoi6.JPG
Square wheels...heh...
How do I know?
Picked up half a dozen of old (20+ years) N gauge Soviet coaches by PIKO (that German company which originally started out as the main supplier of trains in Eastern Europe)
Well, the first thing to do is a test lap on the layout....four out of six cars just failed to run on regular 9mm track. Wheels were out of gauge and on some wheels, still had bits of sprue on them. Making them effectively rather UNROUND. As I bought them as used, I really wonder whether the previous owner had had any success in running them.
Though I'd love to, I can't take a picture of them to illustrate the UNROUNDness as the camera has trouble with capturing such detail. Maybe later.
They are quite nice, though, especially given their origin, and probably a new set of wheels will make them run again without trouble. And someday when I have the courage I'll repaint them to look like this http://www.rvm-electro.ru/urengoi6.JPG
Square wheels...heh...
-norm