Model Railroading > Amtrak Talgo Gets New Wheels

When I bought this Amtrak Talgo Train nearly two decades ago, it had pizza cutter flanges on the stock wheels. It was imported by E-R Imports from Electrotren, a spanish company. Walthers had the 6-car sets on a deep discount, so I bought two sets and a Bistro car, then added the diner car later on. It all cost less than $100 at the time. Now these sets go for several times than on Ebay. 
I cut down the flanges by chucking the wheelsets in a drill press then floating a mill file on the flange until it was down to about the right size. It did the trick, but despite trying to profile the flange, they could still find places to pick and derail occasionally. 
Recently a friend received a set of cars sans wheels and started searching the internet for suitable wheels. I knew the axles were shorter than the standard 1", being 0.957". He found where someone suggested using Athearn short axle 36" wheelsets. We decided to try them and ordered enough for the both of us. After receiving them, I found they fit, but the axles were slightly longer at 0.975" and that caused some binding that resisted the rolling of the wheels. So I used a #53 drill bit to carefully drill some shallow pockets for the axle tips. I also spread the tweezer like axle retainers used to keep the original wheelsets in place by pushing a closed set of needle nose pliers between them. That keeps them from rubbing the axle. Now they roll VERY freely. I painted the wheel rims and the wheelbacks and axle a rusty and grimy brown. Since the prototype cars have a disk like brake surface on the wheel faces, I left the wheel faces bare
I took the train down to the Caldwell Model RR Club in Caldwell, ID to test them. The train operated flawlessly with the new wheels, even backing through a series of turnouts. Most the club members were unfamiliar with the train, let alone the model, so it caused quite a bit of interest. Here are some pics.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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More pics.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

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Amtrak Talgo with a stock wheelset that had the pizza cutter flanges. Does anyone have experience opening these cars up? I need to add marker lights and passengers, but can't find a way to open the cars without potentially causing damage.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/26 00:19 by funnelfan.

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I am not from the Pacific Northwest a but do remember the Talgo sets were featured in train magazine years ago, possibly Pacific Rail News.

Thanks for sharing. I like the close distance btw the cars too.

Victor Baird

Nice model!

JB Wheelsets make a 33" wheelset with .965" axle length. I used them and they work great. I think the Talgo actually had 28" or 30" wheels but the 33" is close enough and they fit great and work great. I did buy them many years ago from the pevious owner but I assume they are the same.

JB Wheelsets

Scott O'Dell



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/26 14:55 by seod.