Model Railroading > Trying out Exactrail's new wheels

Warning: lots of photos.

With a small layout and fleet of cars, I've been looking for accuracy, and decided I wanted to do all semi-scale (.088") wheels. I was curious when Exactrail announced their wheels awhile back, thinking if I was going to replace metal wheels with metal wheels, I might as well do it with the best looking ones. Now that they are out, I took the plunge. Here are some close-up looks at the new wheels, and how they compare.

1. The packaging.
2. Comparisons - from the left: older Atlas .110, Exactrail, Atlas .088 semi-scale, Exactrail.
3. Two unpainted ones in a truck.

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Some car comparisons -

Athearn Genesis Acid tank. These don't fit freely in the side frames, so I will have to swap them out. I tested them on a Walthers, Atlas, and Exactrail car and they roll smoothly. On this car, I decided to go for a "stuck in a siding for a bit" look by painting the whole wheel with Testors rust (by brush) then adding a grimy black/rust mixture to everything but the wheel tread, so the rust there looks fresher.

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A new Walthers gon that needs some sprucing up aside from the wheels.

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An Exactrail hopper.

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What is the price?

Has anyone measured the axle length on the Exactrail wheel sets?

These wheels look really good on trackwork. Here the car is sitting on a handlaid switch with a Proto:87 frog, and I put the guardrail somewhat tighter as well. The .088 wheels look a lot better in this case.

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I don't know that I'll put these on boxcars or cars with wheels set back from the ends, but they sure look good on tank cars.

Last photo - some prepped wheels with a base rust coat.

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BlackWidow Wrote:
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> What is the price?

https://www.exactrail.com/model-trains?product_category=481

Rick Selby
Redmond, WA
Pacific Northwest RPM

Those do look good! Thanks for posting these.

- Jeff

Sweet looking wheel sets! I'm definitely picking up a big batch of these for tank cars, and for other equipment where the wheels are quite exposed and visible.

Cheers,
Harry

Those ER wheels have a much more prototype profile vs many HO wheel sets which look more "model" like.

Thanks for the nice before-and-after pics, helping show the visual benefits of the ER wheels on varying car types. Very helpful!

~ Bob Z.

Bealville...

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Great report, really like the trackwork too !!!, Ed

Very nice review - Thanks! Those are great looking wheels. My problem is that wheels are something I tend to pick up when I'm at the local train store. If I order any it might be when I order another ExactRail car due to their direct-only distribution. They sure would lokk nice on tank cars and some covered hoppers where you can see the wheels from the ends of the car. Can't say I will replace my existing wheels, but someday I may get some for use in new acquisitions.