I usually use Polyfilla, a cellulose reinforced plaster used to fill holes in walls. Mix with water and spoon in enough - put the wagon on a scale, first, if you wish. Cheap, easy, safe and effective.
Allan Lees
Mark has the correct answer. Lead shot. Since I was reloading shotgun shells before I was into model rr’ing I have used that since day one. As long as you don’t eat it mixed with some kind of grit material so it gets broken up in your craw, or lick any dust off your fingers, lead shot isn’t going to hurt you.
The problem with steel weights and Kadee uncoupling magnets is most noticeable if you try to drop a single car at the magnet location (two or more don’t seem to be a problem). If that car is at all free-rolling, it will “chase” the engine that’s spotting the car – sometimes fast enough to recouple as the engine moves away. I’ve particularly noticed this phenomenon with hoppers. Maybe the angle of the weights relative to the track has something to do with it.
Chuck
Modern clip on wheel weights used in the automitive industry are coated with a plastic sealer to prevent damaging corrosion to alloy rims. Most local tire shops will be happy to give a few handfulls of used weights to a potential customer (or even better a current customer). Pep Boys and possably other national chains have recyceling programs and do not give the old weights away.
Why don’t you guys use the adhesive lead weights and get them at auto supply houses? You can get a box (7-8 lbs) for about $22.00, they are stamped in either 1/4 oz or 1/2 oz sections on each piece, they have adhesive backing already attached, and you can stack them on top of each other in the rolling stock. It’s not like you are handling a huge amount of lead dust, you barely need to touch them to place them where they are needed. Simple, quick, accurate (for NMRA recommended practice), done. You are not going to get that much lead on your fingers. You probably inhale more lead as fumes when soldering than you will pick up on your fingers by handling the weights!
Mark C.
There is another material that can be used for adding weight if space is limited, but it doesn’t meet the “cheap” criteria. Golfsmith (www.golfsmith.com) sells tungsten powder for use in weighting golf clubs (another of my hobbies is building golf clubs). Tungsten is 1 1/2 times as dense as lead. The price is $16.95 for a 1/2 pound jar. Like I said - not cheap!
BBs are a great idea! I’ve used solder scrap myself.
underworld
[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]
I have been using fishing wieghts. 50 cents for 4 ounces[:D] I looked for BBs but could only find a little carton about the size of a roll of quarters and it cost $2.50. 5 packs of fishing wieghts are much heavier than one little carton of BBs
I have access to a sheet metal shop that makes duct work. They do specialty work and a whole 4X8 sheet is laid on a plasma cutter. The plan for the parts loaded into a coputer and the machine cuts out the pieces beutifully. the problem, what to do with the sprue (to put it into modelling terms) thats left over. A local scrap dealer gets it but a corner here and there is certainly not missed. The 26 Ga. steel is easily cut with tin snips and can be glued and stacked together for the desired weight. it have to say I think I would prefer #6 lead shot and I might switch to that.
Jesse
As a retired chemist, I’d like to put my two cents in on the lead/depleted uranium weight issue. The problem with lead is not its immediate hazard, but its ultimate disposal. Sad as it may be to think about it, but the cars may end up in a landfill or incinerator where the lead may get into the environment through leaching or vaporization. Steel or other metals are the safest bet.
Depleted uranium still has some residual radioactivity, and uranium can act as a heavy metal poison. Google the issue of expended depleted uranium munitions in Iraq or Kuwait to see more about this.
Bernie
[#ditto]
I still have most of a bag I bought over ten years ago. It’s a life time supply. Just be careful not to spill any. Have a catch tray under the project. They roll everywhere are a S.O.B. to find. I know, a few got away from me. As mark said, wash you hands after handling as you should with all lead products. Even solder that contains lead. Keep it in a tight, break proof container and out of reach of children and pets.
I use plain old soupy plaster in box cars, tank cars, covered hoppers and hoppers that get loads. Just pour it in and it will form to the space available. Any that leaks out through seams can be wiped away with a damp rag after it dries. haven’t tried it on passenger cars but no reason why the area between the center sills couldn’t have some added.
As you know weight is a direct result from the magnetic pull of the earth. If you have a magnet mounted between tracks when a car using steel or other magnetic material passes over the magnet it becomes momentarily “heavier” due to the magnetic pull.
Ummm… WEIGHT is proporsional to the Earths gravity.Not it’s magnetic feild.
I’ve used drapery weights, hammered flat fishing sinkers and shot gun reloading shot.
(It’s smaller and heavier than BB’s)[2c]
An odd thing I found in the scrap at work is lead sheets in .010 and .030 inch thick. These are used as screens in the x-ray film cassettes, and has to be removed before the old cassettes are disposed. I cut the sheets to 1 inch width with a utility knife, and cut the strips to length with a pair of shears, so there’s no lead dust from the cutting process. The .030 thick sheet weighs about .2 ounces per square inch. Just glue it inside the car.
As I read the various schemes above I wondered how long it would be before depleted uranium was mentioned, due to its greater density as compared to lead.
A good source would the many spent anti-tank projectiles scattered around places like Iraq! They are a concern to the military and civil authorities in such countries, even though only mildly radioactive. Deplete uranium was used in the counterweights for the C5 Galaxy aircraft, we had to take special precautions in machining and handling it.
If I had one of those HO diesels mentioned by Rob I would speedily hand it over to the appropriate authorities for proper disposal, like expired smoke detectors.
I’m a Scuba Inst and have lots of lead shot bags for my weightbelts that have worn out. The shot is about 1/3 smaller than BB shot. With my gondolas I turn them over and fill all the nooks and crannies with the lead shot and dribble glue over it to secure them. Once the glue dries and it is setting on the track the lead shot is not noticible. I have a couple of tankers that are RTR and not easily taken apart so I drill a small hole in the bottom of the tank and pour in the lead shot followed by a shot of liquid glue. I just make sure I don’t pick my nose while working with it and wash my hands when finished… Boxcars I usually use pennies as they are typically plentiful around the house.
Terry[8D]
A friend of mine had another good idea. For balancing alloy wheel rims, car shops use small self adhesive lead pads. These lead pads are forbidden in Germany since this year beacause of new environmental rules, so the car shops have lots of them over. I got a big package from one, they come in 10 and 5 gram pads and are good for HO scale cars. Maybe you know what i mean, and i´m sure these pads are also used in the United States…
Which weighs more? $2.00 worth of BBs or 200 pennies?
NOW THATS FUNNY![:D][;)]
#9 lead shot is the cheapest bang for the buck I’ve found. If you go to the right store it’s $20 for 25 pounds. #9 is small enough that it fills better than BB sized ones.
Greg