Anyone see this problem ?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I had HO kit ( Freight cars ), after installation. I found them unbalance when you put them on the track, either go on the left or right.

Do you have any suggestions ?

Thank you very much.

2

berlingo,

Who’s (which manufacturer’s) rolling stock are you talking about? Did you tighten down the truck screws too much?

Tom

3

Could be a number of things:

  1. Don’t overtighten the screws on the trucks that can cause derailments. Back them off 1/4 to 1/2 turn after tightening

  2. Check that the wheels turn freely in the truck sideframes. Sometimes they don’t

  3. Check that the wheels are the right width for the track. if you don’t have an NMRA gauge to check them hold them against a truck you know is ok. Generally they can be moved on the axle to correct.

  4. Make sure that the two axles have the wheels equal distance from the sideframes.

  5. Make sure your track is good. Somtimes bad track will cause the wheels to derail

  6. If it always happens at the same place it may be a track or turnout issue

4

Sounds like the body may not be setting square on the floor or you have loose trucks…A simple fix.

Wheels being out of gauge WILL NOT cause a car to lean but,will cause then to derail.

5

Optimum situation for a standard freight car.

  • One truck should be tightened to the point where it will pivot freely, but not rock. This truck HAS to be square with the carbody or the car WILL lean.
  • The other truck should be installed loose enough to rock a few degrees. This allows the trucks to compensate for the imbalance into and out of superelevated curves, or other minor track imprefections.

I recall a case where a modeler had a car with working side bearings on his bolsters. The trucks couldn’t rock, so the car derailed at every low rail joint!

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

6

Thank you for your tips and infos.

I’ve just re-adjusted the point where you can see in the pictures on the coupler, the truck has no problem and it’s flexible.

I will try again.

Thank you very much…

7

That car in the photo looks like it’s sitting off center slightly. The truck should be centered on the bolster and tightened down so that the truck can rock slightly, not a lot.

8

What you need is for the RR police to come and chase the fat hobos out of the car [:D]

If there is no bolste rfor the car, you may want to get some washers, or scrap plastic, and make something for the truck to sit on.

9

Is it possible that the floor of the car is warped? I had that problem with an old Roundhouse kit.

10

I have some old Accu-Rail kits that did exactly the same thing. They were the old ones that had the trucks held on with plastic pins. I ended up cementing the pins into the holes then cut them off flush with the bottom of the car then drilled a hole in each one to mount the trucks with screws.

11

Make sure you don’t have any flash around the bolster. Eyeball the bolter to see if it looks level. Check for flash around the mounting hole on the trucks.
If you rotate the trucks 180, does it lean the other way? If so, it’s a truck problem.

12

Suprisingly no one has mentioned this, but have you made sure the weight is centered?

I have a Bachmann High-cube that did that, when I took it apart I found out the plastic pins holding the weight had broke, and the glue for the weight lost it’s bond. I fixed it by re-alining the weight (made easier by the fact that the glue had taken out some of the floor, just used to to re-position it)

13

You beat me to the punch.

Everytime I’ve had this prob w/boxcars it’s due to shifted weight.

14

Looking at the pic you posted, I’m not sure the body is sitting level on the frame. It looks as if the piece on the left of the pic shows more than the angled piece on the right. If nothing else shows up, check that.

15

Hello all my friends over here,

Finally, i’ve found the way to fix it, thanks for your all suggestions.

I only moved a metal to the left, placed it on the track again. Then it works, the body is now sitting perfectly. with any angle just fine.

Actually, it’s not suppost to be like that. The metal should be centered.

Now take a look at latest pictures.

Thank you once again…[(-D]

16

Now my question is did BN ever have wood reefers?

17

At Railcarphotos.com, there’s a picture of an all wood reefer painted BN. It’s car number WFBX 71902 shot in 1973 by Craig Walker.

Ed