Weight Of Flat Cars

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I intend to be able to change loads as needed and some of these loads may actually make the car heavier than necessary if I follow the NMRA guidelines.

[?]Should flat cars be weighted the same as other cars or otherwise?

[?]What would you do?
[?]What should I do?

2

Steve,

Are these loads solid lead? If not, I don’t think there will be any problem. If the flatcars are heavier than average, just add extra motive power and position them near the front of the train.

I always make sure to add hidden weight to my empty flats. Most of my problems have resulted from cars being too light.

3

Flatcars are almost too light. Ive piled loads on all of mine.

4

Thanks guys, I’m building some at the moment from Steam Era kits and was wondering

5

What technique do you use for this? There are not many places on a flat to hide any extra weight…

6

One way to add weight to a flat car (or gon) is to replace the steel weight it comes with, with one made of sheet lead (BUT be careful – I encase the lead with thick paint first to minimize touching bare lead, and I wash my hands obsessively while handling lead). Another technique is to wrap very fine solder around the axles. Using metal trucks and wheels can add a bit of weight.
The important thing about adding a heavy load is not so much the weight itself but moving the center of gravity too high. That is what is more likely to cause a derailment problem.
Dave Nelson

7

Hi Steve,

I try to weight flat cars to match NMRA RP20.5 without a load. That’s most difficult on cars with straight sills, but substituting sheet lead for a steel weight as Dave Nelson suggested will definitely help. (It’s also a good idea to replace steel weights if you use magnetic uncouplers.) On cars with fishbelly side sills there’s plenty of room to pack in weight nice and low, and I don’t mind sacrificing underbody detail for weight on these cars because they ride so close to the rail that I don’t miss it. Adding a removable load will obviously add some weight, but if the car has a low center of gravity when empty it should ride okay with most loads.

Good luck,

Andy

8

I guess it depends on whether it’s a fishbelly or straight body - mine [currently] are all fish bellies, so I was able to sneak in a few extra pieces of flat lead.

Dave Nelson and Andy S. both have excellent ideas though - especially regarding the center-of-gravity issue.

9

Thanks guys, I have room between the centre sills on these cars and should be able to add some weight there. [8D]