JayZee
You, and a thousand others, are also wondering.

Disclaimer.....I know nothing about the deal, or the Heber Valley RR. Never rode it.
But very, very happy to see this happen, and I live in BC.

As you allude to, that's a pretty big inventory for an operation of this size.
Along with what they already have.
So, perhaps "keep the best...sell the rest " to keep the Heber operating, might be an option.
The fact they have to be shipped in this fashion, means they are not interchange compatible.
But perhaps perfect for numerous isolated shortlines, who only need 2 or 3 cars...???

Thank you Train Detainer & Dennis for the explanations. I was thinking of wheels where there is a separate tyre shrunk on to the steel centre as per loco driving wheels.
There was a similar style of wheel to the paper wheels in the UK with wooden blocks in the centre and were known as Mansell wheels.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mansell_wheel

Michael

We don't have to many "paper" wheels left in North America but there is one good example of it in Golden, Colorado at the CRRM on the RGS Rico at the CRRM and I believe the RGS Edna at Knott's Berry Farm in California.

Daniel H.
Good info. Here's a shot of Rico at CRRM.
Off the net.
Photo Credit to Nathan Zachman.

Never heard of this train before. I remember in my many visits to Vancouver there was dozens of old passenger cars right near the Briad light rail train station near Brunette Ave and Trans Canadian highway. Is those the same cars?

I suspect the "plate wheel" reference is to 49 CFR 238.119 that bans any "rim-stamped straight-plate wheel if a brake shoe acts on the tread of the wheel for the purpose of slowing the vehicle." Curiously, private cars were exempted, except such wheels could not be used as replacements.

This US Federal Regulation was effective November 8, 1999. I don't know if Canada has a similar regulation.

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CFR ... 38-119.pdf

https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs ... /R95_1.pdf

Phil Mulligan

Phil -
I don't believe that's true. That ban is specifically in response to stamped straight plate wheels, not older flat plate wheels. It also follows AAR S-4045 5.2.1.4 "Rim-stamped wheels of straight-plate design are not to be installed as original or replacement wheels for use with on-tread brakes." It was due to failures of tread-braked stamped wheels, like this rather (in)famous one: https://www.ntsb.gov/safety/safety-recs ... /R95_2.pdf. Lots of info there for the reading. Straight plate wheels (as opposed to flat plate) are still in widespread use. The difference being 'straight plates' are at usually an angle other than 90 relative to the hub and of modern steel, not perpendicular to it like the older 'flat plates' of iron or inferior steel technology.

49CFR still lists bans on type X-2 and X-4 wheels (not sure what those types are - I don't have diagrams of them, maybe someone else on here does), but much of the older tech stuff in the code has been purged over the years as it's been out of normal use for so long. It may not even be in the current AAR MSRPs anymore.

Single flat plate wheelset (common 1850s-1880s):