I have not purchased rolling stock for over twenty years and I was wondering who makes the heaviest rolling stock. A lot of my old stock is feather-weight and tend to derail very easily. Is there some dependence on the type of car, e.g., reefer, cattle, closed hopper, etc.?
I know my layout has a few rough track areas, but I would have to do some serious reworking to get things as smooth as I would like. Some cars run fine but some do not. Since the cars are old, I assume newer cars might be better.
Checking weights is critical! I found that hiding them is a challenge for “closed cars.” I get fishing weights from Walmart and squeeze them so they are thin and less visible. They get glued underneath the cars using liquid nails.
I’ve been using #8 birdshot (.09” Diameter) for about 12 years and found it the easiest to get into tight places. I normally anchor it with Harbor Freight Super Glue, that is easiest and cheapest way I have found. I also found it is the easiest to hide.
I use a Dymo digital postal scale to weigh the birdshot using a 30ml measuring cup then pour the birdshot into cubby holes. I use a few drops of glue to firmly anchor it. It works best if you can put equal weight over each truck.
I buy the birdshot from a local gun store for around $1.25 per pound. I add from 1 to 4 ounces to my passenger fleet and 2 ounces to freight cars. I try to add as much weight to my locomotive as I can for traction, 6 to 10 ounces each. I remotor my locomotives to handle the extra weight.
I use the NMRA weight standards which are based on length of car. They are workable and practical. But other standards are workable too. The main thing is to have a degree of consistency in one’s weighting standards. I know there are some guys who fundamentally reject the NMRA length-based standards and try to find one good weight for freight cars, of almost any length, and one good weight for passenger cars, again of just about any length. It seems to work for them.
If I follow NMRA standards then I at least know I have achieved that necessary consistency with those of my friends who also follow NMRA standards. And that of course is what NMRA standards are all about.
No matter what standards you follow (or create for yourself) my hunch is that a modest variance from them is not critical. A quarter ounce this way or that - so what? Maybe even a half ounce this way or that is OK. Sometimes center of gravity is really the key, which is just as well since it can be so difficult to get empty flats and gons up to standard.
Those of us who do not disdain older models on our layouts have a special challenge when it comes to weighting. For example, the original old Varney plastic ore cars and flat cars and gons from the 1950s weigh nearly nothing! Ditto for the old Hobbyline cars. Even tucking bits of weight here and there into the underframe, or - another old trick - wrapping solder around the truck axles – still does not get you where you need to be. Some guys create “false floors” for their gondolas - sheet lead with either wood planks scribed into the lead, or rivet decals to replicate the original cast floor. For some flats you might have to reluctantly conclude that a certain car is always loaded, even if that means delivering tractors TO the tractor factory.
Pretty much the new product has weight within guidelines.Old stock like Athearn blue box and MDC kits and such i use peel and stick mag weights.They come in 1/4 ounce.Use the whole weight or cut to fit.In coal hoppers with loads i place the weights on angular part of car over trucks inside of car…Keep in mind added weight best served by placing over trucks. Steve
Most freight cars, even open ones, have room for more weight, although not always as much weight as we might wish.
Walthers GSC flatcar, with a load of plate steel (almost no weight to steel if it’s modelled with Plastruct ABS plastic sheets)…
…but some custom-cast lead weights within the underframe help to get it to about 6.5oz…
This (Model Power, I think) flatcar got the bulkhead ends from the Walthers GSC flatcars, and while it does have a metal weight, its underframe isn’t really suitable for more weight. Empty, it tips the scales at only 2.5oz…
…but the lumber load boosts that to about 6.25oz.
A similarily modified Athearn flat weighs in, empty, at about 6oz…
…as its frame was removeable, replaced with a custom-cast lead weight…
How about a ConCor welded gondola…
…at 6.5oz., empty…
This bulkhead gondola, made by lengthening an Athearn pulpwood flat, and adding scratchbuilt sides…
I bought some sheet lead from Amazon. If you search through the site you can find the thickness you want at good prices. The thin sheets can be cut with scissors and can be formed with your hands.
I replaced some of the stamped steel weights with lead. I made flat sheets that fit inside of empty coal hoppers. When painted the same color as the hopper, they disappear. You can also glue some to the inside of engines. You could use the lead for steel plates on flat cars.
This is an Eastern Car Work’s depressed center flat car,…
Not a lot of space to add weight. Plus, the center section has opening’s in the deck that were see through on the real thing. I had to "Stuff " the center section full of sheet Lead to get it up to weight. I painted the Lead Flat Black so at least the “see through effect” isn’t completely lost.
( Click on the picture and it will get Much larger, then you can see the opening’s in the deck.)
I weight 40 foot cars and shorter 4 ounces, 50 foot cars 5 ounces, and anything 60 feet or longer 6 ounces. This works like a charm and is easy to remember.
Thanks for all the replies. I have some good ideas with which to work. The one thing I forgot to mention that would have been more helpfull is that I am running N gauge. It seems that many of the loads were way too much for N gauge as I would loose traction with my engines.
Weighting N engines for more weight is another issue but I think this has been disscussed in general in another post.
