i'm looking at a lionel 18056 New York Central NYC Hudson Steam Engine and noticed that the front pilot wheels are pretty dinky looking. i know the commodore vanderbilt had dinky ones as well, but came with an extra set of scale ones. anybody know if the same is true for this hudson?

many thanks in advance!

Bfishma,

Yes, the 18056 came with a scale set of front pilot wheels in the box. I have never switched mine out. The 18056 also came with a second set of rear drivers with traction tires that could be installed on the engine.

Hope this helps,

Richard

When I put the scale pilot wheels on the Lionel 777 Commodore Vanderbilt, the locomotive lost traction on the litle dips in the club track. The scale pilot wheels, along with the regular trailing wheels, lifted the drivers off the track wherever there was a dip of correct length.

Back to the dinky pilot wheels and everything was OK.

thanks for the feedback. is there any way to reduce the lift the scale pilot wheels cause for the drivers? perhaps adding traction tires would make a difference or a little filing here and there. anyone have any luck with some type of adjustment? just cant bear the look of those dinky wheels up front.

also wondering if the vanderbilt suffers from the same issue with the varying trucks.

I ran mine with the scale wheels with no issues. Take not that the scale wheels were for display only and mine needed some work to rotate freely.

I have a couple of different sets from different places. Some have axles that protrude some have axles that are flush with the wheel. They both look great. Haven't had any traction issues.