Ok, so it’s supposed to snow tomorrow, great time to assemble the Branchline kits I managed to obtain.
Did remember that they are too light per NMRA recommended car weighting out of the box, plus I needed somethign other than Tenax to attach the weights. So I stopped a Lowe’s and picked up som various size nuts, alogn the lines of what Branchline already puts in the kits. So far so good.
Get home, take one of the kits and pile all the parts int eh body shell and put it on my scale. Ok, .85oz too light per the NMRA chart. Stick on one of the nuts I bought - oh boy, .1oz. I’ll need 8 of them per car! That’s not going to happen. I guess it will be off to Wally World for some fishing sinkers if the snow holds off. But an old trick comes to mind. I grab a handful of pennies form the massive (goign to need to reinforce the floor soon) container full of them. Put them on the scale - why, 9 pennies comes to .82oz. 9 cents will weight my car perfectly.
Then I realize - I can’t really fully assemble these cars anyway. I’m waiting for my P2K wheelsets to be delivered, plus I do not have any Kadees. And the truly local LHS, last time I was there, didn;t seem ot have any bulk pack #5’s or any other number, just the smll 2pr envelopes. And the other sorta LHS which would have the bulk packs is over an hour away. With snow forecast for all day.
Why not make a turnout, Randy? Do you have some banged up Flex that you can salvage the rails from, and a metal file? Any PCB ties, or even some strip wood odds and ends and some spikes?
next time you are near a place that sells tires, see if you can mooch some old used wheel weights. i cut them to size with a big pair of nippers, file one side down flat, and stick them in cars with a piece of double stick foam mounting tape. yeah, i know they are lead but i don’t lick my fingers.
I have no problem driving in the snow. Been doing it since I got a license, I’ve never lived anywhere it DIDN’T snow. It’s the OTHER idiots I worry about. It’s more liek I’ve been driving 120 miles a day for work every day this week and don’t much feel like driving anywhere.
That’s pretty much what I planned on doing - and leaving the roof unglued so I can add the extra weight. The P2K wheelsets are a bit heavier, and changing from the yucky all-plastic (even the knuckle spring is a plastic whisker) couplers provided to all-metal Kadees will also change the weight some.
I’ve been using BB gun shot pellets in my frieght cars and passenger cars. They work exceptionally well. Walmart sells them in small milk cartons of 1,500 for only a few dollars.
My LHS has plenty of P2K wheel sets in stock and the owner can ship you the items if you wish.
His number is 813-886-5072 (Happy Hobo Trains). Kevin Ptylak is always glad to help. [8D][tup]
Four wheel drive, real snow/offroad tires, high ground clearance chains when needed, winch. Nothing can keep me from the LHS. (Well, it also gets me to the fire station. People never wait for nice weather to have emergencies.) [;)]
It depends on the storm, did you hear abour the 150 car/truck/bus pileup on I-93 in New Hampshire on Sunday? Probably most of them thought they could handle the snow also - That was before a car lost control and a school bus could not avoid him. The rest just could not see due to the near whiteout conditions. Fortunately, the worst injuries were some broken bones and smashed up vehicles.
Uh, I think you mean 15 car/truck/bus pileup…not 150… [:-^]
Also, I think the weight gained by P2K wheelsets and Kadee couplers is pretty much negligible. A fraction of an ounce isn’t going to make much of a difference…
IRRC, CNN said it was 53 vehicles, including two tractor trailer rigs and a school bus… That was in NH; here in CT we just had some minor fender benders.
Woodland Scenics, under their “Pinecar” line of Cub Scout Pinewood derby supplies, makes 3" steel weights about 2/5" in diameter which are notched so they can be easily cut into 0.5 oz increments (approximately). Since I’ve been building pinewood derby cars for longer than I care to remember, I always have a goodly supply on hand. And a lot of flat washers.