I’m a newbie with an N-Scale Layout and on advice from others all my
cars are converted to Bettendorf Trucks (the ones with the little
copper wires from micro-trains).
Problem I’m having is, I have an incline: My 40’
boxcars seem to come unhooked when they reach a point 3/4 the way up. My 50’ seem to work fine. This happens with several cars. 30’ Tankers work OK as well.
I suspect it is a problem with adjusting the wire length but I’m not
sure. I’m not even sure these trucks are the best way to go or if I’m
even installing them right. They seem to float and are not sitting
firmly on a couple of the cars.
On another note, I have an approximately 30’ tanker that seem to need
weight, when I strap a penny to the bottom, it works perfectly.
otherwise it’s off the track at the first bump. Any way to weight it
down with something more appealing to the eye?
Thanks,
Mike
Mike,
NMRA has published a formula for properly weighting rolling stock for good operation. It’s important if you’re running long trains or running up steep gradiants.
Most cars can be separted from their chassis to allow placement of weights inside. Get your hands on an inexpensive mail scale for the purpose, some display the weight in .01 once increments.
I’m working off the top of my head here so please forgive possible inaccuracy. If i remember correctly, the formula for N scale is 1/2 once plus .15 once per inch of car length. A small letter scale works perfectly.
Some hobby suppliers sell strips of weight with double stick tape on the back and marked in 1/4 once increments for weighting cars. These are basically wheel weights for sticking on the back of aluminum wheels for cars. You might be able to cet them cheaper at your local auto repair shop or parts store. They cut easily with a large pair of wire cutters and work quite well.
Hope this helps,
Mike
St Louis
Watch the cars carefully and see if there is change in the steepness of the grade where they uncouple. There is some track related issue there that the 40’ cars are long enough that both ends hit the kink. 50 ft cars are too long to be affected and 30 ft cars are too short. Hold a rule or straight edge on the rails to check their vertical alignment., Then check the horizontal alignment. The problem is not in the wires. They are only a problem if they hang too low and snag on switches, easily fixed by bending the wire upwards a little. Don’t cut the wire.
Dave H.
Mike,
Regarding adding weight to the tank cars(s)…I havent tried this but read somewhere awhile ago about drilling a hole in the bottom of the tank, filling the tank with fine sand, and gluing a plastic plug cut from a scrap kit sprue into the hole to seal it. Sounds like it should work it it adds enough weight to do the job.
Another way to add a bit of weight from the old days was to get some very fine solder and wrap it around the axles of each wheelset between the wheels. I suppose it might not look that great from the end view of the car, but in N-scale if you painted it to match your underbody and wheelset color, maybe it wouldn’t be all that noticeable. Just a thought you can try out and discard easily if not happy with.