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Proper Car Weight

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  • Member since
    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Saturday, July 18, 2020 1:56 AM

AntonioFP45
...Overall, they've come in handy for the older "featherweight" Rivarossi and AHM passenger cars that I've gotten over the years. Yes, old tooling but so much fun to experiment with and spruce up. Just fill in the floor pockets with birdshot (smother with light glue), and add flat steel weights. With metal wheels, they roll nicely!...

I'm also a fan of the lightweight Rivarossi "heavyweight" passenger cars, and used custom-cast lead weights to bring them up to a pretty-well "standard" weight of 15 ounces each. 
They tracked beautifully, with no jittering whatsoever...a very prototypical way of rolling ponderously, just like the real ones did. 

However, with the soft plastic of the Rivarossi sideframes, it didn't take long for the axle pockets in the journals to enlarge enough for the wheelsets to drop out when a car was lifted off the layout for servicing.

I hope to evenually replace those trucks with ones from Walthers (Delrin sideframes), and re-install the weights.

Wayne

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Saturday, July 18, 2020 9:53 AM

AntonioFP45
Hi Kevin, An option that you can employ if you're in a pinch regarding weights: Use neatly cut, 2" wide duct tape!

That is a nifty idea.

I recently bought literally pounds of 1/16" and 1/8" sheet lead for nearly nothing, so I am set for non-magnetic weights.

I am planning to use the old steel car weights I have saved to hopefully make a magnetic easy to remove dust cover set-up for the new layout.

-Kevin

Living the dream.

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