hi, everyone, i have a old western pacific train,its grey with orange strip. anyone knows; if the bottom is supposed to have a weight on it because there is nothing.??? and also were can i get one for the bottom. thank you.
The NMRA has published standards for car weight, based on the length of the car. If the car is close to the right weight, then nothing more is necessary. Some people will glue a few pennies inside a boxcar (where they can’t be seen) to add weight.
See www.nmra.org.
Could you provide more information? Is your “train” a locomotive, freight car or passenger car? What scale is it? Look on the bottom, is there any manufacturers markings? Can you post a photo? All of this will help us help you.
We’ll need more information to answer your question. “Western Pacific train” really doesn’t tell us anything. What scale? Locomotive or car? What type? Do you know the brand of model?
its a freight train, and its ho scale
If the car is 40’ and under 8 ounces then you need weight added to it. (I belive the NMRA standard is 8 ounces per 40’ and an additional ounce per 10’ of car length past 40’) I like to use the flat weights found at auto tire shops. (The kind that are flat and taped to the wheel, not the type that are crimped to the rim of the tire. ) Most tire dealers will let you go thru their scrap pile and get as many used weights as you want.
Thy do need some cleaning up, but they make excellent weights for rolling stock and they are free. I usually glue them to the rolling stock body using JB weld, epoxy, or black rubber sealant. Another good thing about the flat tire weights is that the weight is stamped into the lead so you know right away how heavy each weight is in ounces by looking at the stamped inprint in the weight.
cwclark:
8 ounces is heavy. The formula I’ve always used is 1 once + 1/2 oz. per inch of length. An HO scale 40’ car is 6 inches long so about 4 oz.
Good luck trying to weight a 60’ flatcar to 10 ounces. Even to the NMRA standard it takes a little bit of extra bits of lead underneath.
Your avatar is a photograph, which indicates you have the ability to post pics. How about showing a picture of the equipment in question, thus eliminating all the guesswork on the part of those trying to help you?
First, it’s an NMRA Recommended Practice, not a Standard, and Chris has the formula right for HO scale.
http://www.nmra.org/standards/sandrp/rp-20_1.html
Also, use of the term “train bottom” can leave a lot of detail out. On most older cars, it would be impossible to remove the weight without taking out the frame of the car. The older Tycos were the only ones I could think of that had a cast metal frame that doubled as the weight. If this is missing, then there’s no place to mount the trucks or couplers. Then we will need to know the model brand name or have a picture to be any help.
Russel, the first step you need to understand this is a exacting hobby and we need detailed information.
This statement only really tells us the scale. Now I understand a new person to the hobby may think all cars are the same, but they are not. So if you don’t know who made the car (we call them Rolling Stock) send us a picture. You will get the correct answer way faster!
Lot of the rolling stock will all so have there name on the bottom of the car. (called undercarriage)
Cuda Ken
Not everything will have a name under it, and at any rate the manufacturer isn’t really all that important as opposed to the type. Any boxcar you just pop the shell, add what you want and put it back on. Flatcars and hoppers are trickier. But it doesn’t matter if it’s Model Power, IHC, Tyco, Accurail or Athearn.
russellyardmaster sounds pretty new/inexperienced, so I’m sure he’s not disassembling a high-end ExactRail car or anything. Adding weight to any car is a simple matter based on what type of car it is. The amount of weight is based on the length of the car. The manufacturer is kind of irrelevant here.