Locomotive balancing?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hi all,

I’m in the middle of remotoring a brass West Side C-25 in HOn3, and I noticed that the new motor is about 12 grams (0.42 oz) lighter than the old one. Would this affect the balance of the locomotive at all, and would it be worth adding a bit of weight to the motor mount to compensate?

Thanks in advance,

tbdanny

2

Personally I would add any weight you could assuming you are using a good quality motor, those engines are so light to begin with that anything you can get in there and still maintain a close balance will do nothing but improve the performance. Be sure to give it the “driver slip” test before giving it the “OK” for service, other than that my answer would be a definite “yes”.

Mark

3

To check the balance, put the loco on a piece of track (without the tender). Put something round like a dowel, tubing or a pen, etc, under the track and in the center of the driving wheels. Adjust weight until loco balances over the middle of the driving wheels.