I have some IHC passenger cars that are a little over 11 inches, that is 80’ prototype.
The cars need weight as they weigh only 3.75 ounces, compared to the Walthers passenger cars which seem properly weighted at 6.50 ounces out of the box.
Does that mean that I should add 2.75 ounces of weight?
And, where inside the car do you place the weight? Centered over the trucks? On the left and right sides of the trucks? Front and rear of the car?
The cars do stay on the tracks in their unweighted condition, but they lean left and right. They sure seem to need weight to stabilize the cars.
The NMRA’s recommendation for HO car weight is 1 ounce plus 1/2 ounce per inch of car length. With an 80-foot car being a little less than 12 inches in length, that comes out to close to 7 ounces. You can put added weight pretty much anywhere as long as it’s evenly distributed both end to end and side to side.
Weight won’t necessarily help with the problem of leaning cars, however. That sounds like a truck mounting issue. I show how to rebuild passenger car bolsters for a more stable and easier to use truck mounting in my book, The Model Railroader’s Guide to Passenger Equipment and Operation, available on this website.
Agree w/ Andy, the leaning/ wobble of the IHC’s is the truck mounting. Haven’t seen the article Andy mentions, but modification to the "snap-in/ or pin style truck mount to a screw on will allow to control the truck “jaw” to help stop the leaning. This is usually done be adding/ glueing a styrene sprue into the bolster ( heat a section of sprue and slightly stretch), drilling and tapping for a 2/56 screw.
I weighted my IHC streamliners up to NMRA recommendations, 6.5 to 7 ounces. Sheet lead flashing goes flat on the floors and does not show thru the windows. In fact I was able to install the IHC interiors over the sheet lead weights with no interference problems.
I replaced the plastic snap in truck retaining pins with 6-32 pan head machine screws. The screws permit adjustment of truck wobble which the snap in pins do not. The 6-32 screws cut their own threads into the retaining pin holes, and the large pan heads help stabilize the trucks.
Just as a point of clarification, if the car weighs 3.75 ounces and the NMRA recommendation is 7 ounces, does that mean to add 3.25 ounces to bring the weight up to 7.0 ounces ? Or does it mean to add 7.0 ounces of weight? I assume the NMRA recommendation means to add 3.25 ounces.
Also, it is interesting to learn that the leaning is caused by the truck mounts, not insufficient weight. I will get a copy of the book.
This is from my blog and a bit long but it worked for me;
The 8 car set of IHC 86’ corrugated side passenger cars lettered for the Empire State Express were removed from service. All 8 cars were suffering from excessive rocking at both low and high speeds.
Here is a list of steps taken to correct the erratic and annoying behavior of these cars;
Completely disassembled cars.
Added steel weights to floors. NMRA weight standard for this sized car is 7 ounces.
Discarded plastic wheel sets.
Reworked trucks to accept 33" metal wheels. (Proto 2000 and Kadee)
Tested trucks to ensure all were free rolling with no wobbling.
Removed nub on top of trucks that rested against bolster.
Drilled out bolsters to accept #4 machine screws.
Discarded plastic press pins that attached trucks to bodies.
Attached trucks with #4 screws using flat washers on both the bottom and top of the trucks. This step is very important as the lower washers add stability and the top washer allows room for the McHenry couplers to swing freely without getting caught up on the car diaphragms.After tightening assembly with #4 nut and allowing a bit of free play I locked the nut and bolt together with CA.
Road tested through Atlas #6 turnouts and 22" and 24" radius curves. Cars ride steady and no derailments have been reported.
Empire State Express put back into service.
David, how long are the screws you use? Do the fully threaded machine screws still permit the truck to freely move in order to track the rails? Do you use a washer with the screw?
Attached trucks with #4 screws using flat washers on both the bottom and top of the trucks. This step is very important as the lower washers add stability and the top washer allows room for the McHenry couplers to swing freely without getting caught up on the car diaphragms.
John, are you using a 4-40 machine screw? What length? Right into the hole in the bolster or do you fill the hole first ?
Thanks.
Rich
Hello Rich,
I owe you an apology… I just checked my cars and found I actually used 6-32 x1/2 screws. I drilled out the bolsters and possible the trucks as well with a 9/64" bit. I will need to correct my blog… For those scoring at home I initially used #4-40 screws but only had enough on hand to do about half the cars. I then did the other half with the #6 screws and found after drilling out the bolster that they actually worked better. I then converted the previous cars with the #4 screws to #6 screws. I think I went with the #4 because they did not require drilling. After installation I felt they were a bit sloppy through the trucks and bolster compared to the #6. The #4s will work but I found the #6 screws to work better for me. Sorry for the confusion.
I owe you an apology… I just checked my cars and found I actually used 6-32 x1/2 screws. I drilled out the bolsters and possible the trucks as well with a 9/64" bit. I will need to correct my blog… For those scoring at home I initially used #4-40 screws but only had enough on hand to do about half the cars. I then did the other half with the #6 screws and found after drilling out the bolster that they actually worked better. I then converted the previous cars with the #4 screws to #6 screws. I think I went with the #4 because they did not require drilling. After installation I felt they were a bit sloppy through the trucks and bolster compared to the #6. The #4s will work but I found the #6 screws to work better for me. Sorry for the confusion.
John R
John,
No apology required. Your decision to use the 6-32 x 1/2 screws is consistent with dstarr’s solution.
Thanks for double checking on that.
Rich
Hey Rich,
I have also used DStarr’s method on other IHC cars in my fleet. His method is simple and effective. I probably went a bit overboard on the Empires State cars as they were extremely annoying to watch as they shimmied and shook around the layout. The only way I was able to secure the washer under the trucks perfectly flat was to drill the hole out a bit. Thankfully they run fine now as they bear my moniker. These cars do have the long truck mounted McHenry Couplers that I needed to negotiate the tighter curves on a prior layout. In future I would consider body mounting some good old Kadee#5s.
Good Luck on your upgrade with the cars. They can be good runners with some work.
I have already replaced the truck mounted couplers on the IHC cars with body mounted coupers, altering Kadee long couplers on the front of each car and Kadee medium couplers on the rear of each car. Next, I will replace the plastic wheels with metal wheels and then swap out the plastic push pins for 6-32 machine screws and washers. I do plan to add weight as well to bring the cars up to NMRA standards.
3/8 inch to 1/2 inch, what ever I had on hand. The old IHC mounting hole for the snap in pins goes clear thru the floor, so you can use a much longer screw before the screw hits the roof of the car. 3/8 inch is enough to go thru the hole in the truck and have plenty of threads biting into the plastic floor. If you put weights on the floor, you need to make allowances ( like a hole in the weight) to allow the truck mounting screw to poke up out of the floor without prying up the weight.
Flat washers, one on top and one below the truck will help hold the truck flat. I don’t remember putting washers on my cars because the large pan head of the screws seemed adequate. If you cannot find pan head screws, and use round head screws, washers will help. If I used two washers, I might go with 1/2 inch screws.
The answer to the leaning problem with the IHC passenger cars seems to be the use of 6-32 pan head machine screws and washers, in place of the plastic push pins, to stabilze the trucks.
Would this same solution work for Con-Cor passenger cars with their off-center trucks mounted that are mounted with plastic push pins?