Steam Mods, Rolling Road

I was at a garage sale and saw a couple wheel assemblies for a skateboard, the wheels turned so freely that I decided to get them and see if they would work as a basis for a rolling road for my locomotives.

When I took the assemblies apart I was pleased to find there were actually four bearings in each axle, and that they fit perfectly on a 5/16" bolt.

I had some aluminum angle so I cut a couple lengths and drilled 5/16" holes in them 1 1/8" apart. I then drilled smaller holes to fasten them to a piece of MDF I had in the shop.

The bearing were mounted to the angle brackets using 1 1/4" bolts with two nuts. The angle brackets were then fastened to the base to fit the gauge of the wheels. I still have bearings to make a second unit when I get a wider gauge loco.

The block of wood supporting the front boogie wheels was a temporary measure, it seems to work so I haven't improved on it yet.