I’m taking a break from the daunting task of adjusting the coupler heights and weighting and changing out wheels on 400 new cars being added to the roster. So I’m sitting here wondering if there is a better aka different way of adding weight to open hoppers and tank cars Most if not all of the tank cars are complete so I am not sure if putting weight on the inside of the tank is feasable. I have been using bird shot for weight on hoppers with loads it’s cheap and goes a long way but it doesn’t look very good on empty cars. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.
Hello you can drill a hole in the bottom of the tank car and fill with sand and plug the hole with a chunk of spur. For the hoppers you can rap soder on the axle Hope this helps Frank
I have some Athearn tank cars that use about a dollars worth in pennies, they fit inside the tank diameter perfectly. Its cheeper than buying a lead weight.
My hopper cars are already heavy enough.
I am the cheapest guy around. I figured out I could fill them with plaster and have it mold right to the contours. It is great for any enclosed cars. For box cars that have doors cast in you can just turn it upside down and fill it to within about 1/4" of where the bottom will be. Covered hoppers you can fill right side up. Tank cars need to be filled before assembly. Any excess on the ourside can just be wiped off with a damp rag once it sets up. For box cars with separate doors I cast blocks of plaster and glue them in the ends of the car.
After frustration for years over the lack of adequate weight in Tankers & Hoppers I began by carefully removing a cap on the Tanker with a razor saw & filling with fine clean sand using a small funnel. Glue the cap back on touch up with paint & presto! no more derailments. With Hoppers with loads–in my case mainly coal-- partially fill with plaster of Paris, top up with real coal & again few problems. I have found the weights supplied are ok for empties within reason. You might like to consider using plaster in the tenders of steam locos also. I started doing this several years ago with excellent results. I can see no sign of any adverse reaction between the plastic & the plaster.
Well, I’ve found the weight added by Intermountain wheel sets to be sufficient. Just swapping out the wheels has eliminated 99% of my tracking problems.