What is a good method/source of material for adding weight to various cars? Is there a supplier of sheet lead for modellers or a good industrial-type source of metal usually local?
(I have an extra bag of real stone ballast that I was going to pour into some light-weight gondolas and glue down with mixed white glue…good idea? Switching some cars to metal trucks…does this add any appreciable weight?)
Is there a recommended weight for rolling stock…perhaps in ounces? (I have collected a real mix of old and new cars. Seems most box cars are quite well-weighted, but several tank cars and gondolas and an entire set of passenger cars seem very light…guess you get what you pay for!)
I have two steam locos with tempermental pilot trucks. They work well otherwise. I think I can add a little lead weight to the top of their pivot arms…may not look proto-typical, but will not be too noticeable. Do you think this will help?
The best method today is the 1/4 ounce self stick wieghts that they use for wheel balancing mag wheels.
So get down to your local auto parts store and buy a box of them, you’ll be very pleased with the way they work.
With HO guage cars, the rule is 1/2 ounce for each inch of the cars lenght plus one (1) ounce.This is for the total weight of the car.
They fit into most areas where you would want them too, are easily painted to hide them if part of them does show. I have some from underneath a couple of cars to inside the roof of a switcher. I wouldn’t be without them. They are a great investment.
I would not glue the loads to the cars. You want them to leave a facility loaded and return empty. Glue your load to a piece of cardboard or gatorboard cut to the interior size of the car. Glue a little piece of steel, like a washer, underneth the cardboard so that it can be easily lifted out with a magnet when the load gets to it’s destination.
First off, the NMRA has standards for car weight that are based on the length of the car. Length is measured in inches and weight in ounces.
There are two types of weight I like to use. The first are self adhesive tire weights. These come in a strip that can be broken up into 1/4 oz pieces. The second type of weight I use is lead shot.
The type of weight used can/will vary depending on the type of car. For example, for a typical boxcar I like to use the tire weights. Simply determine the weight needed, break off the required amount, split it so that equal amounts can be placed over each truck, peel and stick. For hoppers and covered hoppers you can use the lead shot. Mix in some silicone caulk with the shot and apply evenly to the inside of the car. The silicone will glue the shot to the car, put still allows you to remove it if needed. For hopper cars add a coal load and every thing is hidden. The hardest cars to weight are flat cars. No where to put the weight except in the loads. Always try to keep the weight as low as possible so the car won’t rock back and forth badly.
For your steam locos try addig a small amount of weight inside the front smokebox. This will hide the weight and put right over top the pilot trucks.
A 40 foot boxcar (6 inches in HO) with an initial weight of 1 ounce to have a 1/2 ounce added for every inch of car length. So that’s 1 ounce + 3 ounces = 4 ounces. For a ten inch car start with 1 ounce initial weight + 1/2 ounce additional weight for every inch of car length. 1 ounce + 5 ounces = 6 ounces. A postal scale is best for weighing the cars.
These are a whole lot cheaper if they are purchased in bulk. I got my last 20 lb “case” at NAPA auto parts stores. My prior one lasted about 10 years, but my fleet wasn’t expanding as rapidly as it is now.
Instead of gluing a load directly into the gondolas, first line it with Saran Wrap then put your load in. When dry take the load out, remove the wrap and you have a removeable load. If you find that a full load is going to be to heavy put in a layer of foam on the bottom or a few packing peanuts in the load to take up space and not add weight.
I was going to see if anyone had any advice on losing weight, but the beer and Mexican food idea is much more appealing. Do you suppose we can get an exemption from the NMRA for those of us who are also AARP-eligible?
As for the pilot trucks, yes, weight might help. However, the problem is still likely to be there. It’s either in the trucks themselves (too tight, too loose, sticky pivot or out-of-gauge wheels) or more likely in the track work. The track stuff is hard - blaming the track when nothing else but this one steamer derails there is counter-intuitive, but from experience it’s often the case.
One other caveat to keep in mind is to maintain an even weight distribution, fore and aft, side to side. A car with a single ounce of weight added over each truck will track better than a car with threes ounce of weight over one truck and none over the other. The rigid wheel base of a non-articulated steam locomotive will benefit from added weight no matter where it is located. Weight distribution here is not critical.
Yeah, it still might be the track. I like the diesels…all of them seem smooth as butter on the whole layout. Finding steam locos are fussy…everything from rigid pull bars pulling tenders off the track to P2K realisitic spacing of loco and tender knocking the loco off the track with a nudge of the hand rail by the tender on one tight radius and turnout…but only in one direction and not in the other. An identical 0-8-0 (got a DCC one after buying the first one) had no problem either direction in the same turnout. Had to get down to eye level and see that a little bend of the hand rail would do the trick. Now I can get the 0-8-0s into the 15 in radius curves even though they are meant for 18". Actually I can get all even the IHC 2-10-2 and 4-6-4 into the small radius because they cheat with long spaces to the tender and flangless drivers in the middle.
I was going to say that half a dozen Krispy Kreems®, four or five trips a day to McDonalds®, and a daily visit to the DO DROP INN will probably do the job in short order.
Some places still carry lead vent pipe flashing which can be cut with heavy scissors to make flat weights. I used that material and cut out weights that were the shape of the slope sheets of a hopper car and glued them in with calk. When painted they blend into the car and you can’t hardly see them. Also have the proper weight and look good running empty.
I have also used lead shot from a sporting goods store (one that has shell reloading supplies.) That is handy on flat cars or other cars where you want to fill up the voids in the farmes under the deck.