In the past I’ve used thicker CA to affix the weights inside my Accurail and Branchline boxcars. However, because some weight “plates” aren’t perfectly flat and the CA dries stiff and is generally brittle, the weight sometimes pops back up and rattles around. I also don’t like the way the CA attacks the styrene and turns it whitish. The plus to CA is that it dries fairly quickly.
I just tried using Hob-E-Tac on a repaired boxcar. So far (a whole day now!) it’s worked fine. The key: Just like spreading it on tree armatures, let it completely dry so that it becomes tacky to the touch. I thought I also heard someone try rubber cement one time.
Anyhow, I’m just curious what some of the rest of you use for affixing weights to boxcars and/or hoppers. Thanks for your answers…
Scotch Mounting Tape product code 314P. 1 inch wide and 3 1/2 yards in a roll. i buy it a wally-world. it is a quality USA product (unless they changed) and works better that the el cheapo import foam tapes.
i’ve been using it for about 15 years and nothing has come loose yet. normally i use it to mount wheel weights or pieces thereof inside car bodies. you can mooch or buy the used weights from anyplace that sells tires. a pair of heavy duty cutters will snip them down to the size and weigh you need. a few strokes across the flat surface of the weight with a large file cleans and smooths the lead so it sticks good to the tape. (yes mother, they are lead but i wasn’t going to put them in my mouth)
Tom, I use to use penny’s and Liquid Nails, most of the penny’s held fine but some did come lose. (bet I have $3.00 in penny’s running a round the bench)
After many people telling me to use wheel weights I finally did. You can get them from NAPA for around 83 cents a stick. That is 2 oz with easy to cut sections and doubled faces tape. One of my top ten easy MRR tips.
Penny’s are cheaper, 10 penny’s make a oz, but a lot quicker and I no longer glue my fingers together!
This is the first time I’ve heard about wheel weights. What exactly are they and how are they attached?
For boxcars, I use 1/4 oz. metal weights that have an adhesive backing. The problem I have is with gondolas and flats. I can’t use the metal weights on these for obvious reasons in these. When they are running empty, they are terribly underweighted and prone to derail in long trains.
I’ve recently used Elmer’s Nano Glue (in the orange bottle), seems to work well (has to be clamped as it expands a bit when drying) but I have no longevity results yet. I’ll revisit this post in 5 years and let you know how it worked out. [;)]
Adhesive caulk will work. Walthers Goo will but be careful about the solvent based fumes in an enclosed car. People have had it warp plastic. My preference is silicone caulk. Dries flexible, holds strong yet is easily removed if needed.
I have actually had Walthers Goo in an enclosed car warp the plastic as it slowly releases gas fumes that needed an escape route. Darndest thing I ever saw (well … one of the darndest). I also had it bubble up and lift the deck off a P2K flatcar! That was a good opportunity to use one of those really nice lazer cut wood decks instead. I have learned my lesson. A tiny drilled hole or two should prevent this. All of this by the way was AFTER I had read a warning about Goo in MR but somehow didn’t believe them. [D)]
My favorite method for attaching weights inside freight cars is to screw them to the floor. I drill holes between the beams of the center sill, where they won’t show when the car is on the track, and screw the weight to the top of the floor from inside. Over many years I’ve tried all kinds of adhesives, and none of them is as fast, positive, safe, and enduring as a properly installed machine screw. I included this method in my article, “Building resin freight car kits,” in the February Model Railroader – see box 5 on page 52. (And while resin kits are the subject of that article, it shows several techniques, like screwing in weights, that are useful in other kinds of models.)
I use silicone bathtub caulk, the stuff that smells like vinegar while it hardens. Sticks to anything, does not attack plastic, available at any hardware store. It’s got enough body to fill in fairly large gaps between the weight and the car floor. Many box cars on my pike have a big old bolt siliconed to the floor.
I would avoid Goo. It attacks plastic. And after time it gets so hard it is impossible to remove. The silicone stays soft and can be removed years later if needed.
I’ve used Loctite Houseware Repair adhesive with good results. I gives off fumes but doesn’t seem to attack plastic. I’ve had some weights in Bowser cars attached with this stuff for 5 years with no sign of loosening.
As I noted in an earlier thread, those weights are available at auto parts places that sell to garages etc. They come in a box with enough weights to last a lifetime.
Hope this helps. Also the have an adhesive strip, peal and stick. They are the ones used on mag wheels as I understand it. Mine have never come loose.
I use Alene’s Tacky Glue from craft stores like Michael’s and AC Moore. It won’t attack plastic like Walthers Goo (it warped 2 boxcar floors so bad I had to replace them) and it stays flexible when it dries. I like to use lead shot (from gun shops) in the bottom of some cars and Alene’s Tacky Glue flows down between the shot and glues it all together. Very nice. Lead wheel weights are excellent for boxcars, reefers, covered hoppers, tank cars. I got more lead wheel weights than I’ll ever use by going to a gas station that sold, balanced, repaired tires and asking them for the old wheel weights. When you have your wheels balanced, the shop usually takes off the old weights and then adds new ones to properly balance the wheel. Some shops may sell them to recyclers, but some may be willing to give them to you. They are easily mashed into a shape that will fit between underframe braces and other odd shapes. They can be cut into smaller pieces with an old chisel, I don’t recommend sawing because of the lead dust. Lead wheel weights - free, easily shaped, can be cut, dense and heavy and did I mention that they’re free? Jeff
i can’t stess this enough. stay away from goo or any other solvent based contact cement inside of cars.
des plaines hobbies sold a bunch of cabooses years ago that had the weights stuck to the floor with contact cement and the floors and underframes warped so badly the couplers would not even mate up.
i complained about them and all i got was dumb looks. thankfully, i was able to correct the problem with the several i had bought but it took a bit of work.
Maybe that’s because they were the folks who were inhaling the contact cement fumes. LOL! FYI, there are acrylic or water-based contact cements available on the market.
yeah, tom. for years i used elmer’s saf-t cement, an acrylic contact cement for cork roadbed and such. it was water clean up and worked great. i haven’t been able to find it in my area for years so i am back to dap. talk about a cheap high. next track laying project i might try acrylic in a tube like guys are talking about to stick down flex track.
a while back, i contacted Borden’s and asked who sold it around here but they acted like the guys a des plaines.
just another down side of staying close to home when you live in a town with an infestation of only 5000 people.
