Are Proto 1000 RDC Budds too heavy?

[Trainman440]

Hello all, I was unboxin my old - unopened Proto 1000 RDC-1 Budd car.

I couldn't help to notice how heavy it was. Considering only one truck was powered, I expect the weight seems to be putting unnecessary strain on the motor when going uphill. 

Is the car too heavy? I want to some of the hidden and useless parts of the metal frame off, to lighten on the load on the motor. Is that a good idea?

Charles

[hon30critter]

Trainman440

Is the car too heavy?

My P1K Budd RDC weighs 612 grams, or about 21.9 ounces. It does have a nice hefty feel to it.

I thought the idea was to add weight to powered units. One reason is to improve tractive effort, which really doesn't apply here. The other reason is to improve power pick up. Personally I would not do anything to the car which might reduce pick up. As for motor or gear wear, I think it would take a lot of miles before that might happen. I don't ever recall any comments about the P1K RDCs wearing out.

Dave

[mlehman]

I'll second Dave's advice. It's OK and works well. The weight is part of the reason that single motoer runs it well. You're not going to use it to pull anything except other RDCs, which will also be powered most likely. The motor isn't taxed as far as I can tell.

IIRC, I think much of the interior is part of the casting, so you'd likely have to consider axing it. Then you'd look through the winows and see only carnage unless you rebuilt the interior in plastc.

[doctorwayne]

I agree:  for any locomotive, the more weight, the better.  If you manage to get too much weight in one (not easy to do, especially with steam), the wheels won't slip if the train it's pulling is too heavy. 
As long as the wheels can slip when either pulling a heavy train or, if pulling a not-too-heavy train on a steep grade, then the motor and drivetrain should be okay.  However, too much wheelslip can wear away the conductive plating on drive wheels.
I add weight to all of my locomotives, which increases their pulling abilities and improves electrical pick-up, too.  If excessive wheelslip occurs, another locomotive is added to the train.

Wayne

[wojosa31]

I also agree. I have two sets of two, and run them without issue. I never considered them overweight. Not sure there is any advantage in trying to lighten them.

[BRVRR]

I agree as well. The weight helps with pick-up and tractive effort. I occasionally add a streamlined passenger car to my PK1 RDC. It has no trouble with the additional car on my flat BRVRR layout.

[Trainman440]

Thanks all for the replies!

I guess I wont be wasting time modding my RDC chassis. 

Charles

[bogp40]

Trainman440

Thanks all for the replies!

I guess I wont be wasting time modding my RDC chassis. 

Charles

 

Charles like others have said, just run them. We have a few club members that have run them for years during operations and shows, they actually seem to run better after all the years of running.