I try to have my rolling stock close to recommended weight and I assume that the tenders should also follow these guidelines. How and where do you put weight in a tender that has a decoder and speaker? I have only looked in one (BLI 4-6-2), but wasn't thinking weight then, don't remember much space. Have a couple others, Bachmann 2-6-0 and a 2-8-0, the 2-6-0 has a very light tender. Haven't looked in there yet, but was wondering the best approach to the task.
When I get the new layout going I will have the opportunity to make up longer trains and I plan to give each loco and piece of rolling stock a check up before putting it on the new layout.
Any and all suggestions greatly appreciated.
Have fun,
Richard
Search google for stick-on wheel weights. Cheap automotive goodies that work like a charm. Flat and small and fit inside tenders with all the other bits.
Stu
Streamlined steam, oh, what a dream!!
I just searched the Bachmann HO forum and stick on is the way to go.
Carefully adjust the wires at the front of the tender also.
On my Bachmann steamers, I slit the plastic tube surrounding the wires and removed the tube. I can then spread out the wires and and painted them with liquid black vinyl.
I have a small pair of sewing scissors that has long narrow blades. Be careful if you do this.
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
Get some ribbon lead weight and glue it to the walls of the tender, as low as you can so that it doesn't affect CoG too much and still clears the innards. You may have to add some pillar supports in a few places to keep it in place if the glue allows it to slip over time.
I should add that I have only ever altered a tender's weight by removing weight, not adding to it. I think Sheldon or Wayne has commented that some Bachmann tenders run light and that they have added weight, but I only ever removed a solid block about 3/4" on a side from a Lionel HO Challenger tender which was already very heavy.
Seems to me that a tender should weight whatever the NMRA "standard" says: half an ounce per inch plus one.
The tender is, after all, just another freight car that happens to be permanently attached to the locomotive.
Typically, one runs into a problem when one puts a very light car in amongst heavy ones. In the case of a locomotive, a very light tender would fit that scenario. However, a very heavy one would likely not cause a derailment, because there's no underweight car between it and the locomotive. It WILL likely cut back on the number of cars you can pull, however.
Ed
Thank you for the suggestions.
I do have some sheet lead. As I prepare to do each, I'll see if I think I can get some in, in such a manner that it won't be able to fall onto the decoder, don't want to short one out. If not the stick on weights sound doable. Would be nice if there was some room on the floor, but on the small one I am guessing the decoder will take up most of it, so will go with the stick ons along the sides and above the decoder/speaker level.
Thanks again,
Most of my locomotives have shortened tenders, but I add as much weight to them as can be fit into the limited space. I also model open coal bunkers with "live" coal loads, so that adds a little weight, too.Rather than being just another car along for the ride, the tender provides half of the electrical contact points for keeping the motor running, and added weight helps in that role. I don't, however, use DCC, so do have more free space for adding the weight.
All of my locomotives get extra weight, too, as the layout has lots of curves and grades.
There's a how-to HERE on casting your own weights.
Wayne
I agree that an unpowered (no pickups) tender should conform to NMRA recommended practice for weight, plus an extra 1/2 ounce per pair of wheels over eight. One of my worst offenders when I was operating US prototype on club rails was a Santa Fe 16-wheel humongutender, which wasn't even up to minimum weight for its size. A couple of wheel weights put an end to its tendency to depart the rails on curves.
I've also had to adjust the weight of a couple of tenders trailing my JNR steamers, especially the short 6-wheelers behind my 2-6-0s. The latter had a tendency to be snatched sideways off curves by the cars coupled behind them.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)