Walthers BUDD Cars - trucks?

Train Station Products makes a 41CUDO kit that is the same truck as Walthers uses on its Budd cars but has a nine foot wheel base. They make a special kit that is designed for the Walthers cars. If you get the regular kit you will have to adapt it to fit which is quite a bit of work but not too difficult. They sell a kit that has metal wheels but I used the 36" Life Like wheels which work fine and are less costly. One thing that I found is that the Train Station side frames are a little taller than the Walthers so to fit them in properly without raising the height of the car you have to shave a small amount off the top surface. This removes some minor details but doesn't affect the appearance at all. You need to check your railroad prototypes to be sure these trucks were on the cars you are modeling. Other types of trucks are available but they will all probably need modifying to fit the Walthers cars.
J. Bright

Cost is certainly a factor that we hope to minimize beyond the purchase itself. I am considering a five car purchase which will be expensive.
Concerning the 36" Life Like wheels, do you mean that I would simply change out the wheels/axles and use the existing Walthers trucks w/ LL wheel sets?
Thanks! Matt

The answer to the question is no. I use the Life Like wheels with the TSP trucks. If you are happy with the Walthers trucks there is no need to change the wheels - they work fine. The only reason to change the trucks would be to be more in line with your prototype. Also, as I remember, the axel ends of the Walthers and Life Likes are different so they wouldn't be interchangeable.
J. Bright

The Walthers Budd trucks are metal but are split in the middle. Each side is connected by a metal strip that runs under the floor. The wheels have metal end points with a plastic center section. That way you get 8 wheel pick-up as all 4 wheels on the left or right are connected together via the metal strip..
I would be careful if you want to use wheel sets with metal axles. (Intermountain or Rebox) You would probably get a short.
Mike Sowsun Oakville, Ontario

Thanks everyone! I had not read the Walthers description carefully enough. My apologies. Now that I see that they have metal wheels, I see no reason to make a wheel switch. I will gladly use them as R-T-R cars.
Many Thanks for your replies! Matt