I am wondering how much weight to put inside the rubber band driven rotary snow plows to help keep them on the rails…I’ve just gotten into HO model railroading and don’t have the expertise to install a regular motor as some suggested in the posts that I read. However, my snowplow keeps derailing so I’m thinking that I need to add some weight to help it stay on the tracks. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what type of items I should use to make the snow plow heavier and how much weight I should put inside the shell? Also, how would you suggest I anchor the weight(s) so that they don’t move all over inside the shell? Thanks so much!
Rubber band drive? Good Grief[%-)]
Assuming this is a pushed model (ie, there is a locomotive behind it actually providing the forward motion for the plow)
NMRA standards say 1 ounce plus .5 ounce for every inch of length for an HO model. As for weights - lead weights like those for pinewood derby cars are nice. If you can’t find those - lead sheets or lead fishing weights work pretty good too. The easiest way to secure them is either with hot glue - squeeze a bunch of it over the top of the weights - works best for the fishing weights. CA works fairly well for the sheets (make sure its for metal-plastic or metal-metal applications)
I doubt that the weight is the problem. Is this plow longer than other engines on your layout? Are all the rubber bands still there? I assume this is an old Athearn, so I would look for interference between the shell, probably a hanging grab-iron, and the trucks. Or, if you’ve put on modern couplers, check the underside and make sure the new coupler boxes aren’t interfering with the trucks and keeping them from turning properly.
Of course, it could also be your trackwork. Is there one particular place that’s always a problem? It might be a flex-track turn that’s too tight, or maybe a turnout with a loose set of points, or a mis-aligned track joint. I’ve been running my layout for a couple of months now with no track-related derailments, but I put a new Hudson on a couple of days ago and found another one. Sometimes, the new “geometry” of a different engine is enough to bring up a problem that didn’t bother anything else before.
The problem you’re having might be solved with extra weight or it might not. Maybe there’s an out-of-gage problem or something else. Might I suggest you put some “weight” inside a small baggy and place it on top of the snowplow. If it solves the problem, you’ll know how much weight to add inside. If it doesn’t no matter how much you add, that’ll indicate looking at other things than weight.
Ed
Hi,
Today the best weights to use for most applications are the 1/4 ounce self adhesive weights that they use for balancing mag wheels on the new cars and trucks. You can buy a box of them and you will be surprised how fast you use them. They are available from most of your local automotive type shops. Pep Boys, Checker, Auto-pro, etc.
The main problem that I have seen encountered with that unit you are talking about is that the rubber band seems to pull the truck off center. That is why most folks have opted to either leave the fan stationary or install a motor to drive the fan.
Don’t get too hung up on things like that when getting started into our hobby. Concentrate on doing some good track work and getting some trains running. That more than anything will keep you motivated and enjoying the journey. Once you get things running these other little problems that come up every now and then you will be able to accept them as a challenge better at that time, where now they will become a frustration and a newby might loose interest and we don’t want that.
I’m in my 55th year of enjoying this hobby and I still have lots to learn and I still enjoy it as much as when I was a kid. It is alright to be a rivet counter if you are so inclined. But if you are not, don’t worry about it. Just build what you like, the way you like and enjoy. It will help you to concentrate better if you do decided on a particular railroad or a couple that you like, especially if they shared an area. Such as WP and SP. there are many others. Doing this you will find will save you money and time. and then your scenery will fit better as well. Some think that the goal of a model railroad is to have it finished. But in all the reading I have done over the years, it seems that as soon as a pike is finished the owner tears it down and starts over. That is OK, but it goes to show that most of the fun and feelings of accomplishment come from the journey not the destination. I’m just
I know it looks neat to have the blades turning, but I removed the rubberbands and just push it around. The rubber bands put too much tension on the truck and don’t allow it to swivel correctly. I have had one around for twenty year that way.
Last Mountain - welcome aboard! And I love your ID.
Yeah, wheel gauge is a distinct possibility here. I think the wheels just push on to the thick cylindrical axles on these, so one or more of them could be spaced incorrectly.
What’s inside these things? It sounds like they are intended to be self-propelled, and there’s some sort of linkage to drive the fan. Maybe the right thing to do is to remove the drive belts from the front and let the fan keep turning? If you’re not pulling a train at the same time, one set of drivers should be enough.
Unless, of course, you’re like Marty Cozad. His trains are outdoors in the Dakotas, and he uses his rotary plow to throw real snow off the tracks. Now that’s model railroading.
Hi Mr. Beasley,
All that is in these plows is a mount to hold the shaft that is mounted to the plow fan. The rubber band goes over this and down to the front axle. The engineering was that the rotary movement of the front axle would be transfered via the rubber band to make the plow fan spin.
But because the axle and shaft for the fan are at 90 degrees to each other the tightness of the rubber band wants to continually twist the front truck and they will derail almost as soon as you move them, or sometimes even before they move. Ithink that is why he was thinking more weight right away.
There is lots of room in the cabin and hood of these units and there is no problem building a mount for a motor and a flex connection to the fan shaft. You could even put a magnetic reed switch in there as well to turn the fan on or off when it is on powered trackage.
Thanks for the name compliment, the LM & E is a fictisious division of the Western Pacific. Will be a three level layout with a helix to the lower level. 17 x 13 ft. The benchwork is all done and about 23rds of the track laid at this point.
Long live the “Wobbly” Last Mountain & Eastern Hogger.
Not only the rubber band tension but the non bearings type internal drive mechanism causes drag and bind . Plastic on plastic or plastic on metal just does’nt get it . The more you run them the more the metal wears and burrs the plastic. A lot of lubeing helps but — with the drag you get the bind — with the bind — you get the derailing . Good idea but bad engineering . As said if you put a low cost battery operated motor and a battery inside with a switch underneath – as they should have done — it will work pretty darn good . Alot of sound or smoking cars are equipped that way from the factory … either battery or pickup fed .
Thanks to everyone who replied to my question. I’m sorry if I offended some of you with my question…yes, I have a rubber-band drive rotary snow plow…two of them, in fact. A friend of mine bought them for me as a gift when he found out I had watched several shows about the OY Rotary Snow Plow on TV and was intrigued by the operation of the plow. My friend didn’t realize that the ones he bought were powered by rubber bands. I don’t want to hurt his feelings by not running them (occasionally) and, as I said, don’t have the expertise to start adding motors, etc. to the things.
Thanks for all the informative replies concerning the size and type of weights to use and how to attach them. I especially liked the one about putting the weights in a plastic bag and setting it on top of the plow before going through all the work of taking the shell off and glueing things inside. I never would have thought of doing that!
You did’nt offend anyone … they just don’t know the newer rotary undriven plows have the RB’s inside I guess .
Skippy putting a motor into those Athearn BB’s isn’t that hard. Battery powered are the easiest, but track powered is pretty easy too, and since you have two of them, you can “sacrifice” one for the good of the other.
That is correct. I have one too from about 25 years ago and just gave up on the band drive. It was a low cost idea and it fails in the real world. The rubber band usually ends up putting drag on the front truck, which when pushed by the locomotive will twist the truck and drive it off of even perfect track. A bowling ball might keep it on the track. I recommend something in the 10-12 pound range.
I have several of the old Athern BB plows. I probably spent 4+ hours from time to time trying to get them to track & turn the blades at the same time!![:(!]
There is an easy solution! Athern now sells the plow with a motorized blade drive + tender! If they make the same road name you have, just leave off the tender (old ones had no tender) and let your friend think it’s the one they gave you![:D] I haven’t tried it, but if they dont make the same road name, you may be able to switch bodies! Walthers also made one, and both have powered blades that will work on DC & DCC! [8D]