QUOTE (Brian Considine @ 12 Sep 2008, 06:41)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>The wheels are an interference fit on the axels - gently tap the axels out using a small nail punch - be careful though, the cast bogies can get brittle with age.
If this is the old type plastic wheelset made from pairs of plastic wheel and half an axle, then the steel axle inside will only be tight on one half. If each half of the plastic wheelset is rotated independent of the other, the half the steel axle is fixed in can be recognised as it moves with that wheel. The point of doing this relates to the likely fragility of the bogies, there's a bit less pushing out to do if the axle is pushed out of the side it is fixed in. Push it the other way and the raised splines on the steel axle have to go through the currently loose half of the wheelset as well.
The steel axles are undersize for use with current standard wheels on 2mm axles. What I did in the dim and distant past was install regular pinpoint axle wagon wheels. It's a bit of a faff, and you have to use a little force on the bogies, which may not stand up to the treatment that happily. In short, slightly rebate inside one axle box, install brass pinpoint bearing, install wheelset, (slight bending required) remove flange from second pinpoint bearing and insert from outside until axle is captive. Glue in a keeper behind. You can improve the appearance further by cutting down the ends of the axleboxes slightly, and making new covers for them.
I wouldn't choose to do any of that now. Ratio make a good and economical plastic diamond frame bogie kit. Drill out the rivets securing the old bogies, fill the huge holes in the deck, mount new bogies. Or, keep at least one in original condition, mine still serves in one particular capacity. With either a fishplate nut (class 4 or lower) or a chair screw (class 5 and up) aboard, it serves as the gradient simulator to ensure that locos on test can do the job with the train load they are expected to pull on a 1 in 80, by adding it as a drag to the train while on the level test track.
