I recently put together a Red Caboose 42’ Flat car (with Fish belly sidesills) kit. It’s a very nice kit but I’m wondering if any of you can help me with a particular problem.
Originally the kits came with a weight that was to fit “centered between the frame sides and the two truck screw bosses”. However, this kit contained no weight but only the following paper insert instead:
Weights in HO & O scale kits:
As all items in our lives have experienced cost increases so have the materials that go into these kits. The biggest increase came unexpectedly from our weight supplier with increases that in some cases exceeded 300%. Because of these dramatic increases, weights will no longer be supplied in HO & O scale kits as noted in the instructions. June 10, 2001."
From the 2D picture in the assembly instructions, the weight (#5) appears as a very flat piece of metal but there is no indication as to its width or mass. I was wondering if anyone who has put one of these kits together can give me an idea of what was used for the weight. Without the weight, the flat car is definitely on the light side.
I don’t have mine anymore and try as I might I can never find the Reading ones anymore, I really need some flatcars, too. Anyway, I’m pretty sure it was just a plain slab of steel like Athearn puts in theirs, nothing special. One of the two kits I bought came with the center piece in red instead of black like the rest of the car, luckily plain old Testor’s flat black was close enough, so when I sprayed the weights I sprayed that little piece. Kindof wierd how they made them like that. Not sure what you could use instead, unless you can find a scrap of thin steel and cut it to length. Unless someone enjoys building Athearn cars and leaving the weights out, you probably won’t find many of those.
They’re kind of light even with the weight and putting metal wheels on, but I had no problems even with a torture test - both flat cars right behind the engine, with a long string of cars behind, including one of those Proto 2000 cabooses that acts liek it has the brakes set (the lighting is hokey anyway, so eventuially I pulled the contacts off completely - that plus bending the brake shoe details away fromt he wheels fixes that problem) and even doing a jackrabbit start they didn’t tip over, so I figure they’re heavy enough to work well. Without the wight though, that’s gonna be a problem.
You could always run them with a load. Dunno if A-Line still sells that moldable lead stuff they used to have, since everyone’s so paranoid these days that if you touch lead you turn into a drooling imbecile, but that might work as well, packed up between the center sill.
Had already contemplated your first suggestion but hadn’t the 2nd. The good news is that I actually already have a pack of the A-line lead sheeting that I used to weight an Intermountain USRA Composite gondola that I just put together. A few passes with a #11 X-acto blade and the lead sheet bends quite nicely along the scored line.
Great idea, Randy! [:)][tup] I’ll have to look into that.
You’re much better off with lead sheet. The Red Caboose weight is pretty light, perhaps an ounce, and much lighter than the equivalent size 1+1/8 by 4 by 1/32 inch of lead.
Just went and looked at one of my kits. Has the weight (whew), the steel weight is 4 1/8" x 1 1/8" no holes or indentations. It seemed to be a little thinner than a regular Athearn one, not sure.
My alternative LHS (hardware store) carries 3’ long steel strips, just about the same thickness of the Athearn ones. They have it in several widths. Mine has it near the threaded rod and angle iron. Using steel makes it so you can make magnetic loads.
For lead look up a mason that builds chimneys and get some scraps from them. Lead adds more weight, but isn’t magnetic.
Sheet lead is also good as any addition to weighting even if the supplied weight works. There are some models that do need the stiffness of the sheet steel especially on some flats, bulkhead and centerbeam.
Sheet lead can be found generally by the pound or lineal ft at most good hardware stores and building suppliers. It is easy to cut and shape. Cutting by scoring fold and score again. You can also score and fold (accordian style) to double, tripple etc the thickness. Walther’s Goo does just fine to secure.
I have used it in place of moldable lead in fuel and air tanks, and other various inconspicuous places.
I just checked the Walthers catalog and the Adair Shops replacement weights for the Red Caboose flat car are on backorder with no date set for filling the order. If you are lucky the local hobby shop might have it though. If they had it, Waltherswould want $5.14 for the weight (is there only one?) so one way or the other you’d be paying for the shipment of that weight!
It sounds obvious but using a precise scale to weight the parts first will tell you just how short you are of correct weight. it might be that sheet steel rather than lead provides enough weight in which case I bet you have a box of “oops” cars, such as Athearn blue box, that you can raid. I saved the weights from a big box of mostly busted cars I bought cheap years ago, after I had carefully salvaged every intact spare part such as doors, door guides, frames, etc. What you might find however is that the sheet steel often used for those cars is too thick for your purposes. The sheet steel from train set cars tends to be thinner than the Athearn blue box steel which is rather thick.
I see sheet lead being sold at many swap meets, generally wrapped in newspaper so you may have to ask “what’s that?” Take the lesson and handle it with all due precaution. That is, wash your hands VERY thoroughly after touching the lead, and when cutting the sheet to size (a sissors will do), try to be precise with your first cut so you do not have shavings to dispose of. I wash the sissors after such use by the way. Avoid ever filing or grinding sheet lead, because lead dust is nasty. In fact, just don’t do it, period. I seem to recall it is also recommended that you not smoke while handling lead but I am not sure why that is so (not that smoking while handling, say, goldfish, is ever recommended of course).
I ran into a similar problem with a set of Walthers hoppers that were seriously underweight. Luckily, the coal loads I bought were cast from plaster, I think. The loads brought the cars very close to the NMRA recommended weight. I’ve had some nice, but underweight, cars before. I buy the large fishing weights and flatten them with a hammer and white glue them into place. I’ve found that Ailene’s Tacky Glue works very well.
For enclosed cars (like the Branchline boxcars that come with the two steel nuts for weight - it’s not enough), I just use pennies, superglued together. Cheaper than the A-Line weights or fishing sinkers. Still trying to figure out what to do with the E&B Valley gon I have, it comes with NO weight and is much too light. Can’t sandwich in a steel weight like Athearn, but perhaps the moldable stuff I can jam in the space between the two center sill beams.
Finding sheet lead where I live isn’t always easy. I could go to a plumping supply and pay through the nose for it or I can go to Lowe’s and buy what’s could a roofing jack. It’s a vent pipe with a flat base made to go under the shingles. The whole thing is made of lead and is just the right thickness for making weight sheets for railroad cars. I cut them up into whatever size I need. The ones I get weight two and a half pounds. That can weight quite few railroad cars.